


Home is Where the Heart is

by hetalianGemini15



Category: D.Gray-man
Genre: Alma Karma Lives, Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Angst with a Happy Ending, Canon did them all so dirty, Childbirth, Emotional Allen Walker, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Eventual General Allen Walker, Family Fluff, Fankids - Freeform, General Alma Karma, General Kanda Yuu, Goats, Godparents turned step-parents, Im sorry for all the shit i put you through Allen, Implied/Referenced Character Death, Kanda Yuu has Feelings, Katerina meets her great grandkids, Lavi is a dork, M/M, Major character death starts in 15, Momma Kanda, Mpreg, Mummy Allen, Nea isnt starting shit for once, OOC Lavi, Out of Character Kanda Yuu, Semi-Canon Universe, Semi-canon has a little too much hurt but not as much as i had originally planned, Sick Character, The AreKan starts chapter 16 in semi-canon, There are so many oc, These are listed in the chapter titles, Vomiting, minor gore
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-05-25
Updated: 2020-12-25
Packaged: 2021-03-03 04:34:30
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 23
Words: 53,944
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24368938
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hetalianGemini15/pseuds/hetalianGemini15
Summary: An alternate universe starring most of my fankids for D. Gray-Man, this au is made up of oneshots almost exclusively and take place in both the semi-canon and modern au [These are listed in the chapter titles]
Relationships: Alma Karma/Allen Walker, Kanda Yuu & Alma Karma, Kanda Yuu/Allen Walker, Kanda Yuu/Lavi
Comments: 4
Kudos: 28





	1. Kanda, Sweetie, Please [Semi-Canon]

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [beginning note, in this version of semi-canon Alma /is/ alive and lives at the order with everyone else. At this point in the universe both Alma an Kanda are Generals and Allen is still trying to refute the decisions of central on his status. The couples are Yu/Lavi and Alma/Allen. Alma, Yu and Lavi are 20, Allen is 17 [it's early November]. From Alma's pov, fight me, mpreg warning for this entirely]

xxx

Tugging at the strap of his shoulder bag as he walked through the door, he kept his weapon strapped to his hip as he paused in the middle of the hall. He was finally back from his mission, wanting nothing more than to find his partner and rest with him in their bed. But first was the task of dropping off the innocence he had collected, and even after that he still had to look for the elusive whitette. Taking brisk steps towards the science division, the only disruptive sounds he could hear were those of his boots against the solid floor. He had barely taken steps past the lounge on his way back down the same hallway in the direction of the dining hall before he heard the shout of his name, turning around just in time to catch the younger exorcist before he knocked them both over.

"Alma! You're back!" Grinning, he leaned forward to press a kiss to the shorter's lips, feeling his hands being taken by gloveless ones. He was glad that Allen was feeling alright with his hand being uncovered today, it seemed to be akin to a roulette wheel with it in mind whether he'd wear the gloves or not.

"I was just on my way to go looking for you. Has Yu been keeping you company while you're both off missions?" Taking back one of his hands, he took some of the loose strands of ivory hair between the pads of his fingers, pulling it behind Allen's ear. He watched the younger adult's silver eyes glance away, intently staring at a blank spot on the wall to the side of the both of them.

"He was, until he stopped. He's been locking himself in his old room for the past while, and I don't even know if he leaves to go to bed. Lavi brought that up at breakfast, he got back yesterday from his mission and wasn't able to get to sleep because Kanda hadn't returned to their room." His boyfriend was usually louder when he spoke, so he had to hold his focus in order to hear the words the other spoke. He stayed quiet for another moment, watching Allen open his mouth a few times before letting a sigh out. "A few of us have already tried to talk to him, but he won't say anything let alone open the door. It's not locked, but there's something in front of it keeping the door from opening." Leaning forward, he brushed Allen's bangs away long enough to press a kiss to the shorter's forehead.

"I'll go and see if he'll talk to me, I doubt that he'll have done anything to actually harm himself or the baby on purpose. Why don't you go rest, you look like you're about to fall asleep standing up. I'll come join you once Yu is out of his room, alright?" Watching the locks bounce as Allen nodded, he watched as the whitette went in the opposite direction he was going. Grabbing something from the dining hall for Yu since he didn't know when the other had eaten last, he stood before the wooden door, his uniform coat unbuttoned as he used the back of his hand to knock on the surface. He barely heard the shifting from the other side of the door, but it made him smile either way. At least he knew that he wasn't talking to a sleeping body and wasting time.

"Yu? I just got back from my mission, I'm sorry I couldn't be here sooner. Allen told me that you've trapped yourself in here and haven't been leaving. Do you want to talk about it?" Hearing only silence for a moment, the next sound was a soft tap against the bottom of the door. He felt a small smile form across his lips, tapping back a moment before he spoke again. "Do you want to stay like this and just talk through the door or is it possible for me to come in? Either way I brought you some food since I didn't know when you last ate." Hearing silence again, he rested one hand against the door, feeling a light thump from a bit lower on the surface. So that's what was keeping the door closed, it should've been obvious.

"I'm scared." He had to strain to hear the two words though the door, figuring that he won't be let in yet as he rested his own back against the door and moved to sit on the floor of the hall. Closing his eyes at the words, he glanced down the hall for a moment before opening his mouth.

"I can understand that, but do you know why?" Hearing shuffling from the other side again, he glanced back for a moment.

"Get in here." Blinking in light shock, he stood again before trying the door again, it still not opening no matter how hard he tried. He almost made his frustration clear when he heard soft laughter from the other side of the door. "The door opens into the hallway Alma, why does everyone think it opens inward when the hinges are outside the room." Glancing to the edge of the surface, he saw the metal brackets before pulling the door towards himself, the room easily opening up once he did so. Bending over to grab the tray, he sighed as he walked in, pulling the door closed behind him silently. He could barely see the other's expression in the dim light of the room, but he still didn't appreciate the light laughter. The fact that Yu Kanda was laughing, even a little bit, showed how out of tune the young adult was, and it was upsetting that he would probably be the only one who could tell. Settling onto the floor to his best friend's side, he set the tray of food onto the floor between them, setting his hand on Yu's knee carefully.

"Talk when you want to, what happens in here won't be shared unless you want it to be." The light that managed to enter through the cracked window was dim, the glass having last been cleaned years ago most likely. He'd need to find a candle to light eventually. Watching as Kanda picked at the food on the tray, he heard the soft sigh as Yu's pale hands rubbed at his face.

"What's happening to me Alma? This isn't like me, I'm not usually like this." Yu's voice wavered as he spoke, and it took a bit for him to not pull his friend into a hug. Yu liked his space, especially whenever his emotions bubbled over like this, he would just need to wait for Kanda to initiate or reach out for contact.

"You're scared Yu, you told me that much already. It's probably been so long since you last felt like this, it will be alright, you're not alone." Watching the miniscule nod, he almost wasn't prepared when he was grabbed, having to spot himself so he wouldn't crash backwards as his friend threw himself at him. Wrapping both his arms around Yu, he tucked his friend's head under his chin, feeling his uniform blazer slowly get soaked around his shoulder. He carefully ran his fingers of one hand up and down Yu's back, trying to comfort the crying adult. "You're alright, just let it out. I've got you."

The two of them sat there for a while, him trying to soothe his crying friend. After a bit he had started to brush Yu's hair with his fingers, trying to fix any snags without pulling the locks. Hearing the soft crying taper off after a few minutes longer, he pulled himself away a little to see his best friend's face, using one hand to try wiping up the tear tracks before handing the cup of water that had been on the tray over. The front of his blazer was soaked in tears now, but he didn't care one bit as Kanda took slow sips from the glass, hiccuping like a child after a moment and startling them both. He had to hold his breath to keep from laughing at the sound, watching his heavily pregnant friend glare at the floor.

"Of course, the one time I actually let an emotion out this" Hearing another hiccup escape from the man on his lap, he couldn't help his soft chuckle. "fucking happens. Hey, stop laughing! It's not funny!" Watching the glare move from the floor to himself, he couldn't listen to the order he was given. It took a few more minutes for the both of them to calm down, the hiccups subsiding for a bit. Feeling a set of arms curl up around his neck, he rested his hands against his friend's back as he waited for words to come.

"Am I going to be alright? It's going to hurt, I don't want to hurt like that. I would rather be shot half a dozen times by the akuma." Sighing softly, he looked into his friend's eyes, the whites now looking red from crying, the dark blue meeting his.

"Yeah, it might hurt, but you don't really know how much until it happens. I've heard that for some the pain is really mild actually. That baby is going to come out and I doubt you'll even realize the pain once they're in your arms. So don't worry so much about that, and you have all of us to talk to if you get scared, being scared is normal. I heard that everyone else has been worried sick over you since you hid in here." Giving a smile to his friend, he felt it grow as he got a rare one back, feeling the arms move from around his neck to being around his shoulders, gaining a hug as well.

"Thank you Alma, I shouldn't have been like that." Helping Kanda off his lap, he watched as Yu picked up the tray to start eating, himself splitting the thick black hair with his fingers carefully. By the time he finished braiding the hair and tied the end Kanda had finished, using both his shoulder and the bed frame to get himself standing again. He picked up the tray from the floor as he stood, watching as Yu himself opened the door to the room, bright light blinding the both of them for a moment. He walked with Yu down the hall to the room his friend shared with Lavi, already knowing he needed to head in the opposite direction to drop the tray off by the dining hall, and even still to the room he and Allen shared. It was much easier to go the long way alone, and he knew Kanda was most likely exhausted from crying so much.

"Alma." Hearing his name again, he glanced over to his friend, finally able to see the exhaustion in the light as they stopped by the door.

"Yeah Yu?" He kept his voice down, not wanting to draw the attention of anyone at the moment.

"Thank you." Getting another hug, he returned the gesture for a moment before he watched Yu enter the room. He could hear the shocked yell from through the door, walking off after a few more moments. Stripping out of his uniform, making sure to hang the blazer on the bathroom doorknob so he remembered to remove the pins before it was washed, he climbed into bed, feeling arms wrap around him after barely a moment. Turning over to face Allen, he smiled as soft lips pressed against his own.

"Did you get him out of his room?" Hearing the light whisper as he pressed a second kiss to Allen's forehead, he hummed softly.

"Yeah, I did. It took a long while but he's in the proper room and hopefully he's asleep." Wrapping both his arms around Allen's waist, he could hear the soft sound of light laughter from the teen. "Are you feeling any better since you came to rest?"

"Yeah, the baby hasn't been too fussy since we talked earlier, I'm pretty sure they missed you too." Smiling at the nod he was sent, he leaned in for another kiss, fixing how the blanket was over the two of them. "Love you, Alma." Smiling as he blew out the lights, he could hear as his smaller boyfriend drifted off to sleep.

"I love you too, Allen."


	2. Allen, Sweetie, Please [Modern AU]

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [the only people who die are those mentioned, other than that there's like no other deaths other than one that's planned. Here's some Karma / Walker hurt comfort. Don't question why I ship these two, they're adorable and I kidnapped Alma from true Canon because they did my boi so dirty. This is Modern Au, the interaction from the last chapter did happen in this timeline but I won't be writing it since its almost exactly the same. Just so it's known, Semi-Canon au is going to be an emotional disaster eventually. I turn 20 in 24 hours don't mind me]
> 
> Edit [8/1/2020]: There's only one death in modern au and it's 5 years before Allen was adopted. I'm not editing this work, but Mana, Tui, Edgar, and a few others that I can't remember off the top of my head are alive and mentioned throughout the rest of this. Sorry if there is any confusion!

xxx

The house was silent when he got home, no it was more than silent, it was more like a void was surrounding the building. Closing the door behind him and hanging his coat on the rack by the door, he could only hear his own actions.

"Allen? Where are you?" Staying quiet in case he heard a response, he kicked off his shoes before walking down the hall towards their bedroom, peeking into each room as he passed. It crossed his mind that his partner could be visiting his uncle, but he waved the thought away at his mind reminding him that the elder man had left the country on business a few days ago and wouldn't be back for another week and a half. Entering the bedroom, he tried to be as quiet as possible in the case the other was asleep, only to find the bed empty. Sighing under his breath, he started to take off his work shirt and slacks before he heard the soft, near admissible sounds coming from the closet. Getting re-dressed, he took silent steps closer to the door, being careful as he opened the door in case something could fall.

"Allen?! Hey shhh what's wrong?" Climbing down to his knees, he moved closer to where the younger sat in the back corner of the closet. He couldn't see the eighteen year old's face with the white curtain of hair in the way, the long strands having come loose from their holder. He received no response from his younger partner, only able to hear the soft crying and sharp intakes of air. He didn't know what to do with himself despite having done something similar two weeks before for his best friend. So he just moved to sit beside his crying boyfriend, being careful as he grabbed the scarred up left hand in his right, lifting it up to his lips to press a kiss to the rough skin.

Feeling a head land against his shoulder, he jumped a little in shock before relaxing again, moving to lace his left hand with Allen's, right hand tracing soothing lines up and down the eighteen year old's back. He stayed quiet all the while, waiting for the other to calm down and be ready to speak. Hearing the breathing relax a little bit from beside him, he watched as Allen tried to brush his bangs out of his face with his right hand, moving his own hand to pull the snowy locks behind his ear. Watching as silver eyes rimmed with red from tears look up at him, he gave a smile before leaning forward to press a soft kiss to his boyfriend's forehead.

"Do you want to talk about it?" Watching a soft nod, he held his arms out to pull the shorter into a hug, trying not to physically flinch at the other's weight shifting on his leg as Allen climbed on top of him, the action being hindered by both the size of the closet as well as the younger being eight months along with their first child. "Now, what's got you crying on the floor of the closet."

"Hormones." Hearing the short answer, he waited a moment in the case the word was expanded on, pulling the tie from Allen's hair after a moment to pull the lace-like strands out of his face.

"Hormones as in mood swings or hormones as in your body is doing another weird but normal thing." Hearing the light sniffle as he released the elastic band, both his arms wrapping around the figure on top of him.

"Mood swings." Letting his breath out through his nose, he heard as Allen took a breath in. He was about to ask for more than just the few word answers he was getting so he could understand when he saw Allen open his mouth. "How could anyone love me, especially you? I'm fat, I'm ugly, I have this nasty looking scar covering my whole arm and scars on my face. I look like an attempt at being a rebel or a punk but I even messed that up. I'm a screw up on all points, and my only redeeming quality would probably be being raised as a clown for about half of my life. And that's not even moving to the point that I'm pregnant! I've had horrid luck with parents, two of them abandoned me the moment I was born and the third died in an accident all before I was twelve, so how am I supposed to go on to being a parent when I've had almost no experience with them? I'll mess up somehow and the baby will hate me, whether they even acknowledge me after they're born is another thing." Hearing the quick words, he had to try his best to keep up with the multiple topics at once, trying to keep them straight enough to respond to each as best as he could. Waiting a few moments as Allen tried to catch his breath again, he used one hand to cup against his boyfriend's cheek, making the younger face him.

"I'll come back to that first thing in a moment, but I hope you don't mind my attempts at changing your perception of yourself. You're not fat, in fact you've probably been at some of the most healthiest weights you've ever been at in your whole life, and that's amazing when you remember how underweight you were, and I'm not just talking about when you were a kid. You're anything but ugly, in fact I doubt even those who are considered to be on par with Venus match up to you in any form. You are stunning, both personality wise and physically, and nothing could change that. Your scars make you unique, and the fact that you willingly show them gives you more confidence than I've seen from the privileged, and yours is well earned in comparison. If only you could hear how I've been describing you mentally the past three years we've been together, let alone the past nine I've known you." Pausing for a moment to take a breather from his own monologue, he used his thumb to wipe at the reforming tear tracks that moved down his partner's face.

"Being a clown isn't your only redeeming quality, Allen, and you're not a screw up either. In fact I doubt I could find anything needing redemption other than your ability to set the kitchen on fire, bit that can be just a lack of practice and your attention span, both of which are completely understandable. And onto the concept of family, your biological parents missed out on so much for abandoning you, they missed every moment you smiled and laughed, and that's their fault only. Mana wasn't the only one to raise you either, he was probably the best at it of everyone who tried to tame and control the Allen Walker, but he didn't do it alone, and you won't be doing it alone. You've got all of us to help you, Yu, Lavi, Lenalee, Komui, Bak, Tiedoll, Nea, myself, and even Cross, and that's just our inner circle of family and friends. It's no fair to say that the baby will hate you either way, especially when they're not even born yet." Taking another breather before he finished up what he was trying to say, he leaned forward a little to catch Allen's lips against his own. "And so what if you haven't had much experience with an actual parent, you're not alone on that either. Life may suck and karma may be a bitch and a half, but it won't always be that way." Hearing the soft laugh he was glad to finally catch a glimpse of the smile that he was sure held the sun.

"Says the Karma. Thank you Alma, I'm sorry for getting so emotional and caught up in my mood swings." Moving his thumb to try closing the other's mouth and stop his speech, he smiled for a moment.

"There is no need to thank me Allen, and I didn't finish yet. You asked how anyone could ever love you, and then you specified myself along with the question. My answer to that is easily, you're an all around amazing person, you make people's days better just by being present in them. I'm no better than anyone else, but with you by my side I feel like I'm actually present." Watching as Allen smiled again, he felt two warm hands against his face, smiling into the kiss he was being given.

"You are such a sap, it's one of the reasons I love you so much." Taking a few moments longer to sit together on the floor, he continued to pepper light kisses against Allen's skin, tracing over his scars and the edges of the port-wine birthmark that covered his boyfriend from his collar to the fingertips of his left side.

"I have one question to pose for you if you'll accept it from me, Allen Walker." Hearing the light snort, he tried not to convey the question on his mind physically. He wished he had prepared himself more for this, but it fit too well in the moment.

"I will accept the question that you have for me, Alma Karma." Lacing his fingers with Allen's once again, he glanced away for a moment before letting himself meet those silver eyes again.

"Would you like to be a Karma?" The silence that followed his question had him fearing the answer. He was ready to be told off for being too sudden with his proposal, but he wasn't ready for the excited kiss he got instead.

"Yes! Yes I would love to be a Karma. I wasn't expecting that though." Kissing back, he held onto his now fiance tighter. This was not the response he was expecting.

"I'm so glad that you said yes. I wasn't expecting to ask it yet, so there's no ring and showy proposal, but we can always do all of that in public if you want to." Hearing the laughter, he let himself be squished against the wall of the closet and Allen as he was hugged tightly. Eventually they both calmed down again, Allen resting against his chest as he ran his fingers through the white hair that was slightly draped over his shoulder. Then he heard the growl, nervous laughter following it after barely a moment.

"When was the last time you ate?" Asking the question, he watched as his phone screen was turned on to show the time.

"About seven hours ago." Clicking his teeth, he tried to push Allen to stand up after using his foot to open the closet door more.

"Let's forget you something to eat, do you want anything in particular tonight?" Standing on his own, he tried to ignore the pins and needles feeling he was getting from his legs. The two of them had been in there nearly three hours together, let alone however long Allen had been in there alone.

"Can we get some takeout please?" Laughing a bit, he nodded, grabbing his partner's hand to lead the whitette to the kitchen where they kept the menus.

"Of course. I love you Allen Walker." Feeling a kiss being pressed to his cheek, he was glad that he didn't miss the next few words. In fact, he'd probably cherish them for the rest of his life.

"I love you too, Alma Karma."


	3. Happy Birthday Kanda [Modern AU]

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [This is so far in the future but it's his birthday so fight me, I still have something I wanna write before I post the first two kids being born sorry guys [though you get to see the first and fifth oldest of the kids here :3] I haven't slept yet either I wrote this all between 1:30 and 7:15 this morning]

XXX

"Shhh daddy, you're gonna wake momma up!" Hearing his elder daughter's voice from the hallway just outside the bedroom, he had to hold back from making a sound at the scolding tone his seven year old used on his husband. Pulling at the thin blanket that covered him, he almost had to laugh as he felt soft nudges and kicks from his third child, seemingly telling him good morning.

"Yes, yes, 'Bel, I know. Careful Suzu, hold the box with both hands now." Hearing said husband through the wall just outside the bedroom door, he shifted a little in his spot on the bed, being careful as he moved to sit up so he wouldn't jostle his baby too much. He'd rather not have to leave the bed too soon.

"Momma! You're awake already!" Watching the trio enter the room, he watched as Lavi set the tray he had been carrying onto the dresser, himself taking the cup of tea from his pigtailed daughter before she climbed up onto the bed by his feet. Taking a sip from the warm cup before he set the glass onto the bedside table by his phone, he felt as the bed dipped under his younger daughter being set down by her sister, the box in the toddler's hands jumbling a little.

"Yes I am, your little sister wanted to say hello only a few minutes before you three came in. Now what's all this about, you three usually sleep in as much as possible when you can." Resting his hands on top of his stomach, he felt as the pillows behind him were fixed, glancing to the side to see the mischievous look on the other redhead's face, he shook his head a little. Oh what had his husband planned with their daughters this time. Watching as Suzu crawled closer to him on the bed, pushing the box with her little hands as she went.

"Momma! I wuv yuu! Habpbpbpv…" Smiling freely as he watched the two year old squint her bright green eyes as she tried to talk, he watched as Lavi moved from beside him to lean against one of the poles on the end of the bed. Those green eyes held mischief constantly, but at least he knew how to handle that sort of mischief.

"I love you too but slow it down Suzu, no need to rush your words so early in the day." Running his fingers through his daughter's short black hair, he waited a few moments for the girl to get her words together.

"Hab……Habby… Habby Bir… Habby Birday momma!" Blinking a few times at what the girl had said, he rose an eyebrow in light confusion towards his standing partner.

"It is the sixth dear, the girls and I wanted to do something before you were bombarded with phone calls from the family. I was waiting till you were ready before I handed you your breakfast, I'm sure you're hungry." Opening his mouth and closing it within the same second, he watched as Lavi grabbed the tray from where it sat on the dresser, placing it over his lap after another moment. It still took a few moments for him to process what he was told, finally realizing that it was his birthday, his twenty-eighth birthday to be specific. How time seemed to fly some weeks.

He had already known that he'd be getting something sweet for breakfast, especially since it had been a dreadful craving of his throughout his last two pregnancies as well as the current one. He's had more sugar in his system while pregnant than he ever had as a kid, and he's only been the former for a little over two years of his life in total. But at least he was mostly used to it, didn't make him feel any better usually but he could get through it. After that ordeal was over with on his part, he took his tea back from the surface beside him, using his cup to hide his smile as his daughters curled up beside him, feeling as the box Suzu had been holding the entire time was set on his leg, he wasn't at all surprised when the girls watched him intently, obviously waiting for him to open the oddly light box. He really didn't know if he should trust them not to stop his heart while he's like this. Picking up the box, he waited for Lavi to come back from the kitchen before he'd open the gift, briefly checking his phone while he waited, catching sight of a few messages he received from a few of his coworkers and even the beansprout's father and uncle had sent him messages he'd need to respond to them before he got dragged into the dozen phone calls he got every year. Why his brothers couldn't call him together since two of them still live together with their foster father he didn't know, at least his sister in law was decent.

"Daddy's back! Can you please open your present now momma?" Blinking a few times, he set his phone back down as he felt Lavi sit on the other side of the bed, the redhead pulling their older daughter into his lap to re-braid the girl's pigtails. Sighing a little, he nodded, being careful to pull the lid off the decorative box without breaking it by accident. Taking a glance into the silent container, he held his breath for a moment before pulling out one of the paper flowers that sat in the box. The paper it was made of was obviously hand colored, and he was pretty sure he knew who had done that, but the shape he didn't think either of the other two had known how to do the design, let alone that one existed. His confusion must have been obvious, because the giggling he heard had him putting the small box to his side as he held the paper flower in one hand.

"Suzu and I made them momma! She colored and I folded." He was about to ask how Isobel knew how to fold it like she did, but he was beat to it by Lavi who was already working on a second braid.

"The girls asked what your favorite flower was because they really wanted to get you some for your birthday, but I explained to them that you can't just buy lotus flowers with how they usually grow. I'm guessing they teamed up with Allen to make these when I took you for your appointment last week. Apparently he's been trying to work with the kids to teach them origami so they're not all running around the house." Smiling lightly as he looked at the grouping of small purple, pink, and blue paper blossoms, he leaned to the side to press a kiss to Suzu's forehead, able to do the same once Isobel was free from her hair being fixed.

"Thank you girls, they're beautiful." He spent the next bit of time looking at the pieces, watching as the girls ran off to go play after a little while longer.

"I forgot to grab my gift to you on my way back from the kitchen, I'll be right back." Grabbing his husband's wrist before he could get too far away, he set the box of paper lotus flowers to the side.

"Why don't you take me to it? If only for me to walk around a bit." Watching as those mischievous green eyes practically sparkled, he found himself being helped up off the bed, a kiss being pressed to his lips as he stood.

"Of course, I'd take you anywhere. Happy Birthday, Yu." Kissing back briefly as both of his hands were taken, he felt the baby kick a few times before she settled again.

"Thank you Lavi."


	4. Yu're Alright [Semi-Canon]

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Short and sweet YuVi fluff, Kanda doesn't believe he'll be a good parent
> 
> I probably fucked up with Lavi but oh well

He could feel the bed shifting under him despite having been dead asleep just before. He tried to brush it off as the other turning over or fixing his position, but that's not how either of those movements felt normally. He finally opened his eye and sat up when he could hear the sobbing start, trying to get adjusted to the dark as quickly as he could. It couldn't have been before midnight with how little light came through the window. Blinking a few more times as he adjusted to the low light, he could barely see his boyfriend's shiloette in the darkness, but he reached out to the other anyway.

"Hey, hey shhh, deep breaths you're alright. What's wrong, did you have a nightmare?" Pulling the taller closer to him as much as he could while still being disorientated from sleep, he could feel his nightshirt being tugged on as he brought the older closer to him. He couldn't get a coherent answer from the other while he cried, and despite how odd this moment felt, it felt all too natural at the same time. "Take deep breaths, come on I've got you. You're alright, what's got you acting like this?" Rubbing the heel of his palm in circles against his boyfriend's back, he did his best to help the man calm down, trying not to tangle the long black hair whenever his hand went over it. Pacing his own breath, he was glad as he heard Kanda follow suit, the aching sobs turning into airless breaths and then relaxed breathing slowly but surely. He continued with the motions of his hand against Kanda's back, being careful as he pressed a small kiss to the top of his head as it was rested against his shoulder lightly.

"I woke you up, didn't I? I'm sorry, you need your sleep." Sighing a little under his breath, he reached over to the side table and the lamp that sat there unlit, being quick to light it before placing his attention back on the man in his arms. Despite the low light and the point it came from being behind them, he could still see the tear tracks running down the pale cheeks, using the side of his thumb to wipe at the wet strips.

"Yeah, you did wake me up, but that doesn't matter. You need sleep too, Yu, what has you so upset after midnight? Is the baby kicking too much?" Reaching his free hand forward, he placed it very lightly against the side of the older's stomach, able to feel quick kicks barely a moment after his hand came in contact with the thin shirt that the other wore to bed only since it started getting colder outside. He barely heard the soft, tired sigh come from his boyfriend's mouth, able to feel a warm hand holding his down.

"Yeah, they're kicking a bit much, but that's not why I…" Hearing the soft words trail off, he could tell what was meant. Humming softly under his breath, he fixed his hold on Kanda, carefully gathering the long hair and moving it over the other's right shoulder so he wouldn't accidentally pull on it while he held his boyfriend from behind.

"Well do you want to talk about why you were upset?" Choosing his words carefully, he didn't want to get the silent treatment or be kicked out of the room for saying that Kanda had been crying. Pressing a light kiss to the taller's shoulder, he was glad as he saw the silent nod.

"What if they hate me?" Blinking a little, he rested his chin on Yu's left shoulder, waiting a moment before he figured that he wasn't getting any emphasis. 

"What are you talking about? Who'd hate you? I mean the closest thing I can think to hate that anyone feels towards you would be how the finders fear you. But hate? Can't think of anyone who would feel that way." Smiling from his vantage point, he nearly missed the annoyed look he was sent.

"You're not funny, rabbit, even beansprout is more entertaining than you."

"Sorry, I was trying to lighten the mood. You're talking about the baby aren't you? Why do you think they'll hate you?" Hearing the soft sigh from his right, he traced one of his hands against the space where it seemed like the baby was kicking the most, able to feel the jabs lessen in intensity bit by bit as Kanda calmed down in his arms.

"Why do you think they won't? Before this entire predicament and even up till a few months ago I'd go off on people for stupid reasons. What if I start doing that again? What if I turn on them?" Feeling as a warm hand moved to sit just to the right of his chin. Letting out a breath, he used the hand not wrapped around Kanda's torso to move the hand, placing it against where the kicks were still battering the skin and covering it with his own hand as well.

"I doubt that'll happen, especially since you're beating yourself up about it now. But if you did start doing that again I don't believe that you could ever direct it at your child, at least not without good reason. See, even the baby is trying to tell you to calm down. You're going to be amazing, so stop blaming yourself for things that haven't even happened." He pressed a light kiss just under the other's ear, trying to show just how much he meant the words. He could feel the fingers under his hand move in small circles, smiling silently as the both of them could feel the kicks slow down. He was glad that he didn't miss the smile, even in the dim light of before dawn lamplight the other looked radiant. Watching the expression dim before turning into a frown, he felt some of the hair he had moved fall onto his shoulder.

"How can you be so sure?" Groaning softly at having thought they were done with this, he rested his forehead on the shoulder for a moment before looking up again.

"Yu Kanda, I'm sure because I know you. And I know that you won't revert to that again, at least not without actually trying to. I'll be there too, or at least I'll try to be as much as possible." Finally feeling the other relax in his hold, he moved his unoccupied hand to turn Kanda's jaw, pressing a light kiss to the soft lips he met. The two of them sat there for a few more minutes in silence before moving back to the center of the bed. He grinned as midnight blue eyes became half-lidded, watching as Kanda relaxed where he laid. He knew their positions would probably change as they slept, but he couldn't help how he seemed to get lost in those eyes. Feeling as his hand was grabbed after he pulled the blankets up and over them both, he finally let himself relax, making sure the lamp was out before closing his eye.

He'd be sure to keep them both safe.


	5. Light at Home [Modern AU]

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The guys play card games while it snows and Kanda has his first daughter

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Original doc title: Kanda is idoot

"Now what is happening in here? I thought you said your feet hurt, so why are you standing?" Glancing toward the doorway into the kitchen where his boyfriend of three years stood, he took another sip from the cup that he held in his hand. At least if he dropped this cup it wouldn't shatter into half a million pieces, but there would still be a mess someone would need to mop up annoyingly enough.

"I'm not going to sit down in one of the dining chairs only to get stuck and need help getting back up, dumb bunny. I'll be back in there to continue playing the stupid game in a few minutes." Glancing away for a moment, he sighed a little under his breath before his dark eyes met a singular green. "Could you grab a pillow for me though? Your daughter is heavy and being three days late makes my back ache." Huffing at another kick towards the top of his stomach, he placed one hand against the spot for a moment to try to soothe the squirming girl. He was sure the aches and pains were just from how his daughter was positioned and how much she weighed, so he didn't really think too deeply on it.

"You got it babe, I'll tell Allen he can go ahead with his turn. Call for me if you need anything else." Nodding, he watched the red head leave the doorway and head down the hallway to their bedroom to grab a pillow for him, setting the cup on the counter by the sink before he pushed himself away from the counter. He needed that extra force to get him moving, grabbing onto the doorway so he wouldn't run headfirst into the wall again. It wasn't long before he was settled back in place in his seat, pillow propped up against his lower back.

"Are you doing okay, Yu?" Glancing up from the cards that he held in his hand, deep blue met lighter shades. He had been a bit stiff with his movements for the past while they had been playing. But it wasn't too noticeable, at least that's what he had believed.

"I'm fine Alma, why do you ask?" Glancing down again, he rested his empty hand where he could feel the small feet continue to kick, narrowing his eyes in annoyance. She really was active today, something he really didn't enjoy since he was already sore.

"You don't look like you're doing so great, that's all. Two sevens." Hearing the response, he blinked a little, biting at the corner of his mouth as he felt a blossom of pain against his lower back. Shaking his head a little, he pulled together the last of his cards to set down on his next turn, lucky that he would be able to grab his cup from the kitchen again while the other three finished up hopefully.

"I call bullshit, Alma." Watching the other black haired man groan in annoyance at having to pick up the entire pile of cards, he watched Allen silently cheer, glad the room's attention was diverted from him for a moment, especially since his daughter shifted more than he was comfortable with. He could feel her head against his pelvis for some reason, and how he was sitting was getting more uncomfortable by the minute.

"Three tens. I'm going to the kitchen, don't wait for me." Tossing the three cards face down on the pile, he barely managed to push himself out of the chair, his back aching almost as soon as he had gotten to his feet. He didn't wait for a response, but he could still hear the trio from down the hall as he was called on his move.

"Can't just leave the table after a move like that and not wait for a response. I call bullshit on principle, Yu." Huffing under his breath, he moved back to the corner so he could see the trio, trying to look unamused by the ordeal.

"Pick the cards up Lavi, it's three tens." Turning back down the hall, he could hear Alma and Allen laugh, the sound getting softer the further he moved to the kitchen. It wasn't long before the other three all joined him in the room, himself able to tell instantly who lost the game, especially as he saw the beansprout trying to cheer Alma up at the table.

"Since we're all in here please sit down. I don't like how you're standing so much, the doctors said that any strain could make you go into labor at this point." Rolling his eyes, he shook his head, setting his cup down for a moment.

"I'm not about to do that, it's uncomfortable. At least while standing it's only my back that hurts." Trying to brush off the request, he didn't realize what he had said for a few moments, curling one of his arms under his middle. She was definitely acting oddly, and he had to be mindful of his expression as another blossom of pain started a little above his tailbone. Feeling a hand against his cheek, he tried to move away from the touch, glancing to his boyfriend for a moment to try and understand why the other sounded so worried over him.

"Your back hurts? Is it just aches from how heavy she is or is it different than it is normally?" He wasn't going to be able to get out of the questioning this time, and he cursed his loss of a brain to mouth filter on the hormones he had been plagued with for three quarters of a year.

"She squirmed herself into a weird position, that's why I don't want to sit for too long. It's my lower back that hurts mostly, though I'm sure that she keeps hitting against my pelvis too." Closing his eyes lightly as he felt the mentioned child squirm again, he bit his tongue against the soft sound that wanted to come out, assuming that an internal bruise was hit against. Feeling two warm hands cup against his front, he glanced down briefly before placing both of his hands on top of his boyfriend's, moving the warm appendages to where he could feel their daughter through his skin.

"Well she does feel like she's a little low, so it makes more sense why you say she's hitting your pelvis. Why don't you go lay down in bed? I'll join you later and I'm sure it'll be better than standing." He was about to speak up, to agree with the request of him when he felt his muscles stiffen up badly, his breath hitching and leaving his lungs without warning. He knew his eyes were wide, and he'd hate himself for sharing his emotions so plainly later on.

"Lavi" The name left his lips breathily, both of his hands moving quickly to grab onto the counter, one knocking over his half full cup of water. The fluids dripped off the edge of the counter, joining the partly stagnant puddle that had formed on the floor surrounding their bare feet. He felt arms wrap around his waist to hold him on his feet, trying to not pay attention to the feeling of his daughter squirming and trying to move through his pelvis. Well that explained why he wasn't feeling so well the past day.

"Alma help me, breathe Yu. I know it probably hurts like hell, but it will be over soon, believe me." Taking in a shuddering breath as he felt his best friend hold under one of his arms he barely kept his eyes open as he was led out of the kitchen, feeling himself being propped up against the dresser in their bedroom, flinching at the cold air hitting his legs as his soaked bottoms were stripped off of him. He was sure he heard Lavi yell something back to the beansprout about the vehicles, but he couldn't exactly pay too much attention.

"Hold onto the dresser, I'm going to try to help you into another pair of sweatpants and after that we'll be in the car and on our way to the hospital in no time. Keep breathing and tell me if you feel her start to move again." Nodding, he felt the thick fabric wrap around his ankle before he heard running down the hall.

"I've got some bad news Lavi, the snow plows came through and we're trapped in. We aren't getting out of here within the next few hours." He could hear as his boyfriend cursed, but he really couldn't pay much attention to the red head as he felt his daughter shift further, able to feel the cool air against his thighs. Unable to help the low groan that left his throat, he gripped the edges of the top of the dresser to keep himself from falling on his locked legs. Feeling the fabric being unwrapped from around his ankle, he felt himself being held up again, hissing softly as his weight shifted.

"Looks like we're not going to be getting to the hospital in time. Keep breathing and put your weight on me, Alma went to grab towels and he said that Allen was working on grabbing hot water and cleaning up the puddle in the kitchen." He felt one arm wrap around his back to hold him up, the other hand tracing against his front, trying to soothe the pains in his middle.

"I could have told you that much, she's moving too much, she probably would have been born in the car even if we left twenty minutes ago." He barely got the words out coherently as a contraction ran through his body, trying not to make too much noise. He closed his eyes so he could focus on breathing when he heard the slosh of water in a pot that was being set on the floor.

"Unless he wants to have her standing up we really shouldn't let him stand with his legs so unsteady. Plus she'll come too quickly because gravity is pulling her down when he's like this." He'd have to ask how the beansprout knew about this later if he remembered. He stood like that for a few moments longer before he was helped down to the floor, able to feel the towels under him as his shirt and sweater were pulled off him. Good, he felt like he was having a heat stroke in all of that heavy fabric.

"Why do you know so much Allen? I don't see you as the person to look up this stuff." Or he'd get his answer now, that's alright too. He could feel his toes curl up through the next bout of pain, trying to follow the constant order for him to breathe through each feeling.

"It was either I panic about going into labor or I read up on it to calm myself down so I'd be able to walk myself through it. And I'm glad that I did! Otherwise I'd be in the same boat as you and Alma, panicking and trying to remember high school sex education." He really wanted to stop paying attention to the conversation, truly, but it was his only distraction for the moment so he just listened to his boyfriend being talked at by the beansprout. Closing his eyes carefully, he rested both of his hands on top of his stomach, trying to relax.

The conversation around him continued aimlessly, and he eventually heard Alma return and join in. It was almost calming to just hear the voices, but it didn't help whenever he felt the contractions get closer together. He felt his breath hitch before he heard it, sliding one hand down his front a bit. Alright, he had to admit that one hurt. Groaning softly, he tried to sit up a little more where he was, gritting his teeth at how little time he got between the pains.

"Oh good, you're awake. We couldn't hear you for a while there and thought you had fallen asleep." He appreciated the warm hand against his back, the words not so much. But since when did he like everything that Lavi said.

"I was meditating, or at least trying to." Taking a breath in through his nose, he let his body be moved so his back was up against the end of the bed before he let it out again. "So what do I do beansprout? How do I get her out of me?" He barely caught the glare he was sent, having to close his eyes again with another contraction. He felt the baby move more with that one, this needed to be over with soon.

"I've told you a million times, my name is Allen! I have never had the name beansprout ever in my life, Bakanda." Gritting his teeth again, he held his tongue for once in his life, the whitette wouldn't be getting that privilege again for a long time. He could tell that the other two in the room were going to step in if neither of them backed down, and he really didn't want to hear the usual spiel from Lavi that was attempted whenever he witnessed one of their arguments.

"How am I supposed to go about getting my baby out, Aren. You obviously know what I need to do so order me around." He watched the annoyance blink his silver eyes for a little too long, hissing under his breath and nearly curling forward in pain.

"Alma grab a towel to catch her in, Lavi help me hold his legs back. On the next contraction you need to push, you should be able to feel her move. If you don't feel her move or if something feels wrong say something, we don't need you both getting hurt because of your pride." He'd have to commend the eighteen year old after all was said and done at how quickly he took charge of the situation. Feeling his legs being lifted and held up out of the way, he felt the pressure come back, grabbing hold of Lavi's ankle in one hand. Taking a deep breath before he knew he'd be lost for air, he felt the pressure hit his breaking point, pushing hard as he was directed to.

Allen was right in saying that he would feel her move, he just didn't realize how much. With the first push he barely heard Alma yell in shock that he could see the head coming, his body relaxing at the relief that it wouldn't take too long apparently. The second push had the head crowning, a burning pain that made him cry out. He could feel Lavi's hand trace small, soothing circles into the back of his thigh, himself taking ragged breaths between pushes.

"The head is out!" Those four words had him sighing in relief as he felt the hair that framed his face being pulled behind his shoulders. Glancing up for a moment as he panted softly for air, he watched the smile on the younger's face, feeling the ghost of one across his own lips.

The time between the head coming out and him pushing the shoulders out was spent in moderate silence, able to barely see Alma working on fixing his hold on the child that was in the process of being born. The shoulders came free one at a time, and he could feel as the body had turned as it left him in sections with nearly overwhelming detail, his eyes closed as he tried to regain his lost air into his aching lungs. To him it felt like an eternity from the time his daughter slid out of him and his legs were released to when he heard her first cries. The moment she was pressed into his arms and against his chest she quieted down quickly, his attention not straying from his little newborn daughter for a moment as everything was starting to get cleaned up around him. For just this point in time he felt like there was nothing else that mattered, that nothing existed beyond him and his daughter.

"I never thought I'd get to see Kanda cry in person, it's surreal. The laundry room is down the hall right?" He was crying? He hadn't even realized it. He slowly became aware of his surroundings again, realizing first that he was in bed wearing boxers before seeing the redhead standing next to him from the edges of his vision.

"Alma helped me get you in bed while you were out of it, we figured that you wouldn't be able to get your legs moving for a while. How are you feeling Yu?" Feeling his boyfriend press a kiss to his head, he finally looked away from the newborn baby held in his arms and against his chest.

"Everything aches and I'm exhausted but I don't care. She's here, Lavi, we have a daughter now." He was quiet when he finally spoke, part of him not able to believe that this was reality and not a dream.

"She is, I'm so proud of you. Which name did you like again? I have the time written down, but I need to send her name so the doctor can get her birth certificate processed." Glancing back to the girl in his arms, he very lightly traced a finger over her head, the strands of red hair standing out against her skin.

"Isobel Hikari." Hearing a soft laugh to his side, he glanced over for a moment, barely catching the other couple standing in the bedroom doorway as he looked over to his boyfriend.

"Beautiful, I didn't really expect for you to go with the name I suggested. Now, I'm taking her to give her a bath and get her dressed, I'll be right back with Miss. Isobel Hikari Kanda when she's clean and dressed so that we can all sleep. I can tell you're more exhausted than you're trying to let on, don't worry I'll be extremely careful with her, and Allen has every right to boss me around if I do something wrong." Letting Lavi take the girl from him reluctantly, he laid back against the pillows as he watched the two of them leave the room and go down the hall, able to see Allen follow from where he laid.

"You did really well, Yu. Lavi is right, baby Isobel is a wonderfully beautiful girl, I'm almost scared for whoever tries to date her when she's older." Groaning softly at the other black haired man's words, he rubbed the heel of his hand against his forehead in annoyance.

"Alma, please, she's not even a day old and you're talking about that. What time is it by the way?" Hearing Alma laugh, he couldn't help the miniscule smile that appeared on his face.

"It's two fourteen in the morning, Isobel was born at one forty-two. I texted Bak and Tiedoll to let them know by the way, I'll tell them her name in a bit. I'm sure I saw Allen send Lenalee a message, don't know if Lavi let Bookman know yet but I'm sure that everyone is going to know by evening." Rolling his eyes, he almost didn't want to know the reactions, then again he could have possibly fallen asleep by now if he wasn't patiently waiting for Lavi to return with their daughter.

"If those two show up around here at six in the morning I'm going to kick their asses." Hearing another laugh, he felt himself relax.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Isobel Hikari Kanda born December 1st at 1:42 in the morning  
> Hikari means Light


	6. Cleanup / Not Alone [Semi-Canon]

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Allen tricks Komui into working, Allen has his and Alma's son

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Docs title: SMH Komui clean your office
> 
> Warning: Do not try this at home, I do not know all reactions a Komui would have to being tricked into doing his paperwork, you have been warned

"I'm terribly sorry for coming in unannounced, but I can't find Alma and you seem like one to know where he is." He had woken up alone early this morning with a backache and his child positioned weirdly, which he probably should just be resting because of. Curling both of his hands against the underside of his bump, he shifted his foot under him a little as he tried not to slip on the loose pages thrown haphazardly on the floor. He really wished he wasn't such a fall risk.

"Ah, yes, I sent him on a mission early this morning, he should be back later on today or early tomorrow." Deflating a little at the answer he got from the crazed scientist, he sighed softly before looking along the pages littering the floor again.

"Thank you for telling me, I was getting worried that he just disappeared again." Trying to step aside as he heard footsteps coming up behind him, he barely grabbed onto the back of the sofa as he slipped, failing at regaining his footing. He couldn't hear anything happen around him for a few moments, but he was glad when he felt two sets of hands pulling him upright and onto the sofa itself.

"This is why we tell you to clean your office brother! How many more people are going to slip and fall before you actually do something?! Are you alright Allen?" Hearing Lenalee scold her older brother as he tried to catch his breath, he huffed under his breath softly as he felt rough jabs against his spine. At least he could tell his slip didn't hurt the baby too much. Nodding a little at the question he was asked, he was grateful to be helped onto the soft surface by the siblings. Glancing to the pages on the floor, he barely managed to pick a few of them up from how he sat to look them over, barely realizing that he had nothing else to do today.

"I'm alright Lenalee, it just jostled the baby a little. Why don't I help with the paperwork and cleaning in here? I've been told that I'm supposed to be resting, who says that I can't help sort while doing that? At least I'd be able to keep an eye on him while doing this since I have nothing else to do." Giving his friend a smile, he was glad to see her return the expression fully, dragging the eldest adult in the room back to his desk.

"I'll help get you both set up a bit for now. Thank you for this Allen, I know you wouldn't normally offer anything like this, that you'd rather be in your room." Watching as the dark haired girl started gathering partially wrinkled pages off the floor starting from right around the couch so he would have more room to move if he needed it. "I'll be back later on to check on you both and grab you for lunch." Nodding in acknowledgment, he had already begun looking through the pages that were sat beside him, starting smaller stacks and trying to sort the pages by date before going back through them.

It took only about an hour or so for him to get through the few stacks of paperwork, taking a small break before he set about trying to gather more pages off the floor. His lower back really ached, but he just tried to brush it off as his baby's odd position and their squirming. He traced his fingers against his front lightly, smiling at the lighter kicks he received in response. He really would rather be in bed just talking to his unborn baby and waiting for his partner to return from his mission, but he figured that he'd get bored of that, might as well help clean the least safe place for him to be.

"Need help getting more papers off the floor, Allen?" Blinking as he heard his superior's voice, he sat up a bit, moving to push himself up off the sofa to help gather pages from the floor.

"Yes, sorry, I was just taking a little break before asking for help. How much have you gotten through of what's on your desk?" Squatting down carefully beside the sofa to collect from the large pile of pages, he watched as Komui placed a second unsorted stack on the empty cushion, trying to grab stray pages from the floor that had slid back into the walkway.

"A few documents, nothing interesting. Need any help standing back up?" Nodding, he let his arm be grabbed as he was pulled up, stepping back over to his seat with the thick stack of papers in his hands.

"You need to work faster Komui, that's the reason why you have so much paperwork. If you just got it done when you got it, you would probably have more free time to do whatever. You'd also have a cleaner office and wouldn't lose anything so quickly in all this mess." Huffing a little under his breath, he started going through the stacks of pages that were just collected, able to see the branch chief sweeping up more pages from the floor for him to work with. It would probably be smarter for all the pages to be collected from the room to be sorted through.

"I know that Allen, I just don't like doing the paperwork." Setting the pages he held in his hands back on their respective piles, he waited for the older man to come back over to where he was sitting.

"Well, why don't you turn it into a game or a challenge? Plan a goal so you can do something fun." The look of confusion he got was a little annoying, but his idea was a little out there.

"A challenge? What do you mean?" He was glad that he had caught his superior's attention, pushing himself to his feet again to start pulling the pages that sat on the desk into a neat pile. "What are you doing Allen? Be careful with my desk, there's experiments and prototypes on there."

"Well you can't exactly do it if you can't tell which pages you've done already. Sit down and I'll walk you through what the challenge is." Waiting a moment for his directions to be listened to, he grinned despite the look he was given. "How about this, every five pages you finish you get one minute of break from doing paperwork. That means if you do fifty pages, you'll get a ten minute break. Does that sound fair?" Grinning as he got a nod, he watched for a moment before going back to his piles, moving to sit on the floor so he would have an easier time reaching everything.

"Allen? Brother? What is…" That was how Lenalee found them about two hours later when she came to get them for lunch. Glancing around a stack of paperwork that blocked his view of the door, he set the page in his hand down as he felt his baby squirm a little and kick at him. He must've disturbed their sleep, well now they knew how he felt.

"Hi Lenalee! I'm a little stuck here but welcome back." Hearing the girl laugh a little, he carefully pushed the piles to the side before he felt his friend grab his wrists to help him up on his feet.

"Allen, what is my brother doing?" Glancing to the desk where he saw the chief filling out more pages that had been grabbed from one of the piles he had made. The man was still working through the deal, the stack of finished pages having been moved to the floor to give more room on the desk for the man to work.

"He's doing paperwork, I gave him a challenge where for every five pages he finishes he gets one minute of a break from the paperwork. He hasn't taken a break yet, grabbing pages didn't count." Watching violet eyes widen at his words, he walked over to the desk, grabbing a stack of the finished pages.

"I don't know how you did it Allen. Komui, do you want a free break to go get something to eat or would it be better if we just brought you back something?" Watching the crazed scientist look at them from the page he was working on, he smiled as the three of them left the room, watching as Lenalee intercepted Reever before the blonde could walk into the office to put the stack of paperwork on the sofa for later.

"If there's more paperwork just leave it outside the doors, Allen is helping Komui clean his office." And it was left outside the room, all five towers of paper that Lenalee and Komui took into the room. He was glad when he and Lena had finished gathering all of the loose and crumpled pages from the floor and sorted them into stacks, finally able to see the carpet that had been hidden below it. Taking a breath as he could finally let his mind wander, he pressed his knuckles against his back as he tried to get some of the stiffness out of his joints. It wasn't the best way for him to spend a whole day, but at least now everyone could walk around the room without the risk of slipping on loose pages. Hearing the door open as Lenalee took a stack of pages from him to move them beside the desk, he glanced back for a moment only to be met with shocked expressions from some of the people from the science division.

"How…" Grinning, he felt a hand on his shoulder as he heard Lenalee respond to the shortened question that came from Reever.

"Allen made a deal with my brother. What was it, every five pages is a minute of free time?" Nodding, he jumped a bit at being grabbed into a hug, able to feel the baby kick from being a little jostled.

"You're a miracle worker Allen!" Chuckling a little at the words, he held his hands up as he was released, trying to deflect the praise he was getting.

"No, no, I was just trying to help him get through it without too much complaint." He felt his face flush in embarrassment at being the center of attention. Hearing the sound of clinking chains from by the door, he tried to look to where the sound came from, his eyes widening as he heard the voice that accompanied them.

"I may not know the whole conversation, but he is definitely a miracle worker. He got Yu of all people to open up to him." Taking a step to the side so he could see the owner of the voice, he couldn't control his expression as he finally saw his partner.

"Alma! You're back!" He wished that he could run to his boyfriend to hug the man he had been missing all day, but with his extra passenger that wasn't a possibility sadly. But at least Alma came closer to hug him.

"Yes, I am. You look like you've been busy today." Nodding, he felt himself being turned around so his back was against Alma's torso, holding onto the arms that were wrapped around him.

"Was it obvious? I promise I was sitting down for most of it." Feeling as a kiss was pressed to the top of his head, he managed to grab the report his partner held, placing it on the top of one of the piles before moving his hand back to rest against his middle. He was tired from working so much over the day, he just wanted to lay down in bed.

"With how you're falling asleep standing up it was. Are you done in here?" Blinking a few times before he rubbed at his face, he noticed how almost nobody had their attention on him as he nodded. Feeling a warm hand move to hold his own, he smiled as he was led back to their room by the hand, kicking off his slippers as he sat on the side of the bed. Pulling off his sweater, he glanced over by the dresser, feeling his face flush again at the view he gained. Despite having been with Alma for over a year and a half he still wasn't used to his boyfriend not wearing a shirt, even from behind. Changing into his night clothes as quickly as he could so he wouldn't be caught staring. Laying down on his side, he smiled as he came face to face with his dark haired boyfriend, able to feel the blanket being pulled up further over them. Feeling arms wrap around him and pull him closer to the other, he returned the kiss he was given, drifting off right after.

And for once he wasn't woken by kicking before dawn. Instead he woke up closer to eight in the morning when he felt Alma fixing the covers. Shifting a little to try to not get sunlight in his eyes, he instead felt a kiss to his forehead, sighing softly as he opened his eyes finally. The room wasn't too bright, and from the chill he felt when he moved the blanket a little he had a feeling it was because the window was covered in snow.

"Sorry if I woke you, you looked a little cold." Shaking his head a little, he reached forward to grab Alma's night shirt, trying to pull the elder closer to him.

"No you're alright, the baby didn't wake me up at three in the morning so I got to sleep this time." As if he called out to them, he felt the baby kick at him, seemingly knowing they were being talked about. Placing his hand to where he felt the little foot, he felt his boyfriend's hand cover his, enticing another well aimed kick to the space.

"They're so active this morning, wonder what kind of energy they've been saving up." Laughing a little, he moved to sit up, feeling the pillows being fixed behind his back. He could feel the bed shifting under him as Alma moved to sit beside him, feeling more squirming. It felt a little weird whenever the little one squirmed like this, it reminding him that they had gotten into a weird position the morning before.

"They let me sleep, and I'm pretty sure they were asleep while I was helping Komui with his paperwork yesterday, so I don't doubt that the baby saved their energy to terrorize me." Feeling warm hands cup against his belly, he smiled as it calmed down the squirming a bit.

"I guess that's it then. Don't terrorize your mum too much, you won't like him when he's annoyed." Sighing a little at the kicking calming down, he rolled his eyes at his boyfriend's words. Of course he would be called such, at least it wouldn't be the weirdest thing to happen, no that was Kanda referring to himself as momma while talking to his two week old daughter. He remembers the first time it happened, when Lavi was nearly thrown down the hall.

He couldn't keep the smile off his face as he watched his partner interact with their unborn child. He didn't mind not getting attention, he'd try for some later on when the baby fell asleep again. Unable to keep from laughing as he felt kisses being pressed to his stomach, he felt his back flare up a little. Within the same second he felt Alma pull away, unable to see the conflicted expression until he calmed down from laughing.

"Alma? Is something wrong?" Speaking up after a moment, he placed his hand to the side of his stomach. The man across from him stayed silent for another few moments before placing his hand opposite on the opposite side to his.

"Are you feeling alright Allen?" Blinking a little, he tried to understand the question, sighing a little. He might as well talk about what feels weird in case something happened.

"Well my back hurts, and the baby has been in a weird position since yesterday morning and whenever they squirm too much it feels really uncomfortable. But that's all just minor things, why, is there something that I haven't noticed?" Watching Alma shake his head, he felt the hand move away for a moment.

"Do you want to get something to eat?" At the mention of food, he could practically taste bile in his throat, shaking his head quickly, he used his other hand to cover his mouth for a moment. "I guess that answers that. Do you want anything else?"

"Can we cuddle for a bit? I'm still a little tired, and maybe I'll be hungry later on." Getting a smile, he let himself be picked up and handled lightly so he was on Alma's lap, his shoulder and head against his boyfriend's chest. He dozed into and out of sleep for the next while, feeling his middle being rubbed against each time he felt the dull throb in his back. He didn't put the actions together in his mind until he felt the pain move to right around his hips, hissing a little under his breath. He froze in his spot, realization dawning on him finally as he cupped his middle carefully. Grabbing Alma's hand with his left, he tried to think rationally, realizing that he already was.

"Maybe we should let the infirmary check me over, just to be safe." Feeling his innocence arm being squeezed a little, he was helped off the bed, slipping his slippers on before he was handed his cardigan, taking long enough to put it on for Alma to put actual pants on. Feeling an arm wrap around his waist for a moment, he was glad that he was being walked with, especially with what he could think of happening right now. There was only one more pain he paused through before they made it to the infirmary, letting Alma talk to the first nurse that was free while he tried not to squirm himself as he felt the baby shifting around.

"What is it that you're feeling? Can you describe it?" Nodding a bit at the questions that the nurse asked him, he placed his hands on top of his stomach lightly, trying not to spur his baby too much while he was being held. He only barely registered they were in a private room that branched off the infirmary, trying to focus more on his immediate surroundings.

"Earlier my back was flaring up, but within, what, the last hour the pain moved to my hips. The baby has been in a weird position since yesterday and they keep shifting." Feeling cold hands move up under his shirt, he flinched a little in shock, able to feel the nurse's fingers pressing against his middle lightly.

"Well it feels like the baby is in the proper position to come out if not a little low. Would you sit on the cot so I can check if your body is preparing for the child?" Nodding, he let Alma help him out of his pants and underclothes before he sat on the edge of the cot, looking away from the nurse in embarrassment. It wasn't like his lower half was on display for all to see on a normal basis, but he'd need to deal with this if he wants his baby to come out healthy and safe. Unable to help the shocked squeak he made as he was checked, he heard the nurse click her tongue before moving away.

"Well your body is getting prepared for the inevitable, it's just that there's not much progress just yet. I'd say come back in a few hours for someone to check again, but if the pain gets worse or if you feel the baby move lower before that you need to come right then. You can redress yourself for now." Nodding to the nurse, he was fidgety as he tried to pull his bottoms on, holding his hand against his stomach as another cramp ran through him, the skin underneath his fingers feeling harder to the touch for only that moment.

"Wait, what's happening?" Biting at his lip, he tried to keep his balance until the pain ended, getting a burst of energy as it ended. He nearly missed Alma's question, but he surely didn't miss the answer to it.

"He's getting contractions, which means that his body is getting ready to have the baby. It could take hours for him to be completely ready to go, but at least you caught the warning signs early enough." Watching the nurse leave the room, he tried to fix his pants so they fit better, trying to accommodate so he wouldn't be bothered by pressure against his pelvis from the outside.

"Are you feeling alright? This is big news." Smiling the best that he could against Alma's question, he moved to grab both of his boyfriend's hands, taking a breath to calm his nerves a little.

"I'm doing as fine as I can be, especially with getting pain every twenty or so minutes. The baby is finally going to come, I'm scared of what's going to happen right before they do, but I'm excited to finally meet them." Feeling lips cover his, he smiled into the kiss, feeling arms wrap around his hips loosely.

"Alma Karma, please report to Chief Komui's office." Glancing to the door of the room, he furrowed his eyebrows in confusion. What could Komui want with Alma now? He just got back from a mission last night. Feeling his hands being squeezed, he bit at the inside of his mouth as the both of them walked through the door of the room, heading in the direction of the listed destination. The two of them got odd looks, probably because it was after midday and they were both still in their night clothes, but he didn't exactly care, it's not like he was going to change into clothes he'd eventually change back out of while in the beginning stages of labor. Stepping through the double doors with Alma, the first thing he noticed was how the other two exorcists in the room were in uniform already, dreading what his partner was called for.

"I apologize for doing this so soon, but as soon as I finish briefing you on the mission I will need you to get ready and head out." Hearing the words from Komui, he could tell that he had paled near instantly, feeling the baby start kicking again in annoyance. Apparently they didn't like hearing that their father was being sent on a mission so close to them coming into the world. He was so focused on trying not to outwardly panic that he didn't even notice the glares he had been getting from one of the other exorcists the moment he had entered the room.

"I can't do that Komui, I'm unable to leave headquarters." He felt his hand being squeezed, able to take a deep breath just moments before he felt the next contraction. He must've been noticed finally just as he closed his eyes to focus on not making a sound, because when he opened his eyes next they were the only three in the room.

"What seems to be going on with you both?" Taking one, then a second breath, he looked to Komui for a moment before making up his mind to just tell the branch chief as it is.

"According to the nurse who just checked me, I am getting contractions. This means that the baby will be born today, when exactly we don't know for sure, but within the next couple hours I need to go back and get re-checked." He tried to keep focused on the conversation after he spoke, but every time he managed to get his focus back the baby took it. It annoyed him, but he didn't doubt it would be the same way up until he actually had the baby. Hearing their superior dismiss the both of them, saying that he'd call for another exorcist for the mission, he was walked out and partway down the corridor before he was leant up against the wall.

"That was close, if he had kept trying to send me I most likely would've done something drastic. What is your body telling you to do?" Glancing up finally, he let out a breath before lightly pressing at Alma's shoulders so the man would take a step back from him.

"Thank you for not taking the mission, I don't know what I would've done if you weren't here when the baby was born." Letting out another breath, he was getting a little annoyed with how slow everything was going.

"I wasn't about to even consider leaving your side, especially now. I would never leave you to do this on your own, especially not on purpose. You didn't answer my question though." Smiling, he couldn't stop himself from laughing a little as he felt Alma kiss him.

"I really just want to walk around, maybe it could help speed things up a bit. And despite how ill I feel even thinking about eating, maybe I should at least try to get something in me." Feeling his hand being taken again, he was led towards the dining hall. After not just one, but two failed attempts at finding something he could keep down, the both of them just stuck with keeping him as hydrated as possible. They moved to an empty training room to walk around without being in the corridors, and it almost felt like dancing to him, except that there wasn't any fancy footwork. Taking a break from walking around, he glanced to the clock in the room, the both of them having watched the sun as it set a while before. Tugging at Alma's shirt after a moment, he squeezed his empty hand closed as another painful contraction ran through him.

"Help me back to the infirmary? I'm sure that it's close to time, my hips are starting to ache more." It took a bit longer to get back to the infirmary than it did earlier, and he only barely realized that it was because he was taking slower steps. The moment they entered the ward, he was practically dragged into the back, Alma following close behind him as far as the nurses would let him. Being helped with stripping down, he could feel the baby start squirming again, much more urgently than before. Being stood on a few towels that were being used to contain the mess that was expected, he tried to keep from crying out, trying to fight against being held in place.

"Please let Alma back in here, he needs to be, I need him in here with me." He felt the tears drip down his face, pleading to not be alone while he did this. Feeling as a smock of some form was tied around him, he tried to focus on his fussing and kicking child instead of his surroundings. Crying out loudly as his waters finally broke, he could feel as his thighs and legs were wiped off and he was moved to the bed, unable to catch his breath in time for the next contraction, another scream leaving his throat. Finally he was told that he was allowed to push, but he wouldn't, he outright refused as long as he was alone. He could feel his baby moving with the contractions, but it was taking forever as long as he wasn't assisting with the movement.

"Head Nurse he won't push!" Hearing one of the nurses that practically surrounded him call to the elder woman, he flat out screamed in pain as the next chance he had to push passed, causing more pain than he thought he could be capable of feeling without passing out. He could hear an argument start between a few of the nurses, trying to pass the blame for something he couldn't pay attention to. He heard the door to the area open and close with a thud, and he could feel as his right arm was released long enough for a different pair of hands to grab onto it, his attention immediately moving to the warm hands holding the limb.

"Hey, shhh, I'm right here. You can do this Allen, we've almost met our baby. Just listen to your body, they'll be out really soon." He let the tears overflow, squeezing the hand in his as he finally pushed, immediately feeling his baby come much closer to leaving him. He sobbed loudly, borderline screaming as he pushed each time, unable to control his vocal chords. Gripping heavily onto Alma's hand, he finally felt as some of the pressure was released, taking heaving breaths as if it would help his aching lungs.

"The head is out, next are the shoulders, keep going." Glancing over to his partner, he gave a weak and tired smile, able to feel his child being shifted a little before he felt the pressure return tenfold. Letting out a heavy wheeze as he pushed, he felt all too well as one of the shoulders started pressing out of him, it being followed by the other on his next push. He practically collapsed into a pile on the cot as the rest of the body slipped out, releasing Alma's hand so the man could follow through with the offer to cut their child's cord.

"What are they?" His throat burned when he tried to talk, watching as Alma took the loosely bundled baby from a nurse to hand to him.

"A boy, we have a son Allen." Smiling softly as he felt the bundle of messy limbs being set in his arms, he vaguely noticed the tears pouring down his face. He used his right hand to trace fingers over his newborn son's head, brushing against the soft strands of black hair covering the boy's head.

"We have a son, we're parents Alma." Sighing softly as the fussing boy calmed down more, he pressed his thumb against one of the boy's tiny palms, going right back to crying as the equally tiny fingers curled around his thumb, holding onto it tightly. "You had a name for him, right Alma?"

"Ryuuji? Is that what you're alright with naming him?" Nodding, he laughed a little as he felt Alma try wiping his face of tears.

"It's perfect, hello Ryuuji."


	7. Great Grandma [Modern AU]

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay don't fight me, I made an error in my older works in this series. The only death in modern au is Adam's. I didn't even kill Edgar and Tui so fight me. I had to alter a lot in the planning of these works, but I'm not going back and fixing parts. Please enjoy what happened around Ryuuji's part in the timeline! :3c
> 
> xxx

"Grandma? It's me, Allen, Alma is with me too. Can we come in?" Speaking up as he knocked on the thick wood of the door, he felt as his hand was grabbed carefully, smiling despite his fidgeting. He knew it had been a while since he had last seen his grandmother, but he couldn't make many excuses that were worth the attempt other than blaming his hectic senior year of highschool.

"Oh it's so nice to see you Allen! It's been so long, look at how much you've grown." Being pulled into a hug by the older woman he's known his entire life, he used his free arm to hug her back before he felt the other being released from its hold. 

"I missed you too grandma Kat, I wish I had more time to come visit you, but with it being my last year of school I'm really busy." Feeling his grandmother let go of him, he smiled back as the lightly greying woman smiled at him, her hazel gaze moving to Alma who had taken a few steps back. Oh surely he knew he wasn't getting away without a hug.

"You too Alma, come on." Pulling Alma closer by his wrist, he couldn't help the sound he made when he was pulled into another hug. Being let go of again, he watched as Katerina moved to re-enter her home, tugging at the sleeves of the sweater he was 'borrowing' from Alma. "Come on inside, it's a little chilly out here. Would you like some tea?" Blinking a little, he felt his hand being taken again.

"Could I get water instead please?" Waiting a moment for his grandma to leave the room with a nod, he pulled the front door closed behind him, leading Alma over to the couches to sit. He could tell that he was visibly nervous, and the fact that he felt a warm hand on his leg that was meant to calm him down proved how obvious it was. Being handed his cup of water, he took a sip of the beverage as Alma was handed a cup of tea. Spending a few minutes in comfortable silence, he rested his shoulder against Alma as he took a breath, setting his cup on one of the coasters on the coffee table. Might as well get it over with.

"We actually came over to give you some news, and I really didn't want to just say it over the phone." Pausing for a second, he tried to not think about the mess of an explanation he had made a week ago in front of his dad and uncle. That was an absolute mess, so was when he told Alma but then again he wasn't the one to say it out loud. "Mrs Katerina D. Campbell you are going to be a great grandma." He could feel his cheeks warm up as he spoke, picking up his glass again and using it to partially hide his face.

"And I thought you said that you were busy with school, Allen. Does your father know about this?" Nodding his head a little, he let out a breath, glad that this was going better than the times before.

"We told him and Nea last week, they didn't take the news so well at first. It took a little while for the information to set in." Hearing his grandmother start laughing softly, he finally relaxed where he sat.

"I don't doubt that, I still remember how Nea reacted when Mana brought you home. He was silent for about three seconds before he started freaking out, and he barely left his room the first three days you were here." Laughing a little, he felt better about how telling his father had gone. "So how long until I can brag to my friends about my great grandchild?" Hearing Alma start choking on his tea beside him, he rubbed his boyfriend's back carefully as he set his water back down.

"Well we can't stop you from telling people about it, but it'll be at least another seven months before they're here." Holding his hands up as he tried to push back the blush from his cheeks, he moved both of his hands back into his lap. "If I've been keeping track of the days properly I should be about seven weeks along. Dad and Nea have already offered to help me move my things to Alma's place after I graduate." Keeping the conversation going, he barely realized how dark it was getting outside the window. It wasn't until the large grandfather clock chimed for nine that he realized how tired he was.

"I should see you both off now, it was nice seeing you both again. Come on by anytime, my door is always open." Standing by the door after helping take the empty cups into the kitchen, he was pulled back into a hug.

"We'll try grandma Kat, and if anything you'll see us when I graduate in a few weeks, but I'll be sure to try coming by before then, trust me." Stepping back a little, he smiled as Alma walked into the hug, not trying to run like he had earlier.

"It was nice seeing you again, Mrs. D.Campbell." Hearing Katerina click her tongue, he tried to hold back his laughter as the older woman sent his boyfriend a scolding look.

"Oh please, Mrs. D.Campbell was my mother, if you want to be formal call me Katerina. But you're my grandson too, Alma, so don't worry if you address me as Allen does. He may have been poorly influenced by his uncle, but he's a sweetheart like his father where it counts." Watching the two smile, he waved one last time before he was led to the car they had come in.

~~~

"Mother? May we come in?" Hearing as his dad called through the door, he felt as his coat was tugged at and fixed, both of his arms already occupied with holding the sleeping bundle that was barely a day old. He was still exhausted and his hips ached badly from the night before, but he wouldn't change a thing about it all. Well, maybe when Alma almost broke his leg, but that wasn't too bad.

"Is he still asleep?" Nodding silently, he pressed one of his fingers against his mouth to shush his fiance. He didn't want their son waking up and crying, especially since he had just gotten the boy to fall asleep an hour ago.

"Yes he is, please keep your voice down." His throat was still sore, but he wouldn't keep his attention on that. Hearing the door open, he briefly saw his grandmother wrapped in her sweater from the edge of his vision before he was walked into the large home.

"I wasn't expecting visitors today, please excuse the mess." Silently watching as Mana, Nea and Alma helped grab the spools of yarn off the floor, he was careful as he shifted the newborn that laid in his arms so he could grab a bundle of seafoam yarn that had rolled and hit his foot. It was still odd to him that he could see his feet now.

"It's fine, grandma Kat. It's not like we warned you we were coming by. Why do you have so much yarn out anyway?" Handing the yarn off to Alma who put it back into the basket that had been knocked over just before they got there, he felt the baby shifting in his arms, glancing down and smiling as the boy settled again. The commotion must've disturbed him.

"I was just trying to finish a few projects before the baby came, I do have a few things done though." Smiling as he heard the words, he couldn't wait till the older woman noticed. The room was quiet for a few moments as the rest of the yarn was untangled and picked up from the floor, able to watch as Katerina searched for knit and sewn clothes and objects.

"Well you may not have to wait to see him with what you made." Watching as his grandmother sent Alma a look, he tried not to laugh as she turned to finally look at him. Moving his empty hand to gesture to his sleeping son, he felt his sleeve slip down and move the hospital band that was attached to his wrist.

"Why didn't any of you say something sooner?!" Hearing the laughter as they all watched her drop the fabric she had been holding to come over to him, he felt the top of his arm being grabbed and himself being led to the couch to sit.

"They wanted to see how long it took for you to notice. We decided to stop by on the way home from the hospital so you could meet him. Grandma Kat, meet Ryuuji Karma." Offering to hand his son over to the only maternal figure that he's had in his entire life, he made sure that the little baby was still asleep before relaxing against the back of the couch. He closed his eyes for a moment as his arms rested on his legs, able to feel and peeking one of his eyes open as a kiss was pressed to his forehead. He really was tired.

"You're real lucky, mum. Allen hasn't let anyone other than Alma and the doctors hold the baby since he was born, I'm a little jealous. He even scared off the four nurses who tried to take Ryuuji to the nursery so he could sleep last night." Turning red in the face, he tried to pull the collar of his jacket up to hide his burning cheeks.

"Says the one who dropped his nephew on his head at a month old. I'm your twin and I wouldn't trust you to hold Ryuuji until he's older, Nea." He couldn't help how he snorted, covering his mouth and nose to try and muffle the sound. Hearing more laughter from the room, he tried to calm himself down before he jumped, startled by the newborn crying all of the sudden. He was glad when he was handed his son back, instantly moving to shush the crying boy.

The group of them stayed there for a while longer, talking softly and getting help with putting and fixing the handmade clothing on his baby. He was even sure he saw Alma sharing pictures of their two week old niece with Katerina, his grandmother saying something about making the small girl a blanket and hat as well. He didn't really remember what time they had decided to head home, only remembering how he was practically carried back to his uncle's car and buckled in next to the carseat.


	8. Birthday Bunny [Modern]

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Happy Birthday Lavi!

"Oi, rabbit, can you take Isobel to the store with you? We need groceries and the house is a mess from when my brothers came over yesterday." Running into the room as she pulled her sneakers on, she grabbed onto the counter and bounced a few times as she made sure she was wearing the footwear properly. She knew that her uncles coming over last night was all a piece of the plan her momma had gotten help with figuring out last month. So was her going to the stores with her daddy, she was supposed to keep him away from the house until she heard the secret word.

"Sure, I don't mind. You ready to go little 'Bel?" Nodding with her smile on her face, she felt herself being picked up, feeling a kiss to her forehead after a moment, another following as her momma came over to the two of them. She covered her eyes with her little hands as her parents kissed, how gross.

"I'll call if there's anything I forgot to put on the list, but call me when you're about to come back." Waving to her momma while she was being buckled into her seat, she bounced a little in it as the vehicle started and began its trip down the road. The drive to the store didn't take too long and she was soon running and skipping a few feet in front of her daddy, grabbing boxes and cans off shelves that she could reach for him before climbing onto the end of the cart and hanging on. She loved going to the stores with her daddy, he always let her help.

"'Bel stay close to the cart, we don't need you getting lost in the store and going missing. Your momma would be  _ so  _ upset." Going back to the cart as she watched her daddy grab something else off a high shelf. After getting the groceries and taking most of the bags to the car herself, she climbed into the backseat herself as she listened to her dad calling her momma.

" _ Lavi? _ "

"You said to call when we finished at the store to make sure you didn't forget to put anything on the list." Hearing silence for a few moments, she bounced a little in her place between the two front seats, waiting to hear the secret word.

" _ Sorry, I'm thinking _ ." She heard her daddy start laughing, covering her mouth with her hands to keep herself quiet.

"I can smell the smoke from here, Yu." She didn't get to hear the response because the phone was taken off it's speaker before her momma could start his yelling. She could guess that there were words that he said that she wasn't supposed to know, but that didn't stop her from knowing some already. Her momma and uncles say some really bad things sometimes when they think she isn't there. Watching as the phone was put back on speaker, she couldn't help but smile as she saw her daddy's grin. Oh! This trick!

"What does that mean, momma? What do those words mean?" Climbing over the box that was in between the two seats, she fell into the passenger seat with a soft sound, her hair bouncing in it's pigtails. She pulled at the edge of her dress so it would stop puffing up under her and showing her shorts. The phone was silent for a minute or two before she heard her momma's voice again, and he sounded absolutely embarrassed.

" _ Please don't repeat  _ **_any_ ** _ of those words I just said Isobel, those were really not nice words. _ "

"Then why did you say them to daddy?" She stuck her tongue out at the device, knowing that her momma couldn't see her.

" _ You'll learn when you're older, Iso. Can you two pick up some books from the library for me? _ " She could hear the confirmation on the question as she giggled, feeling as she was picked up from the seat and taken back to hers. She tried to brush her daddy's hands away so she could buckle in, but no matter how hard she tried she couldn't get both straps locked in, huffing a little under her breath. After being helped with her seat, she could watch the trees go by as they started towards the library. She knew that the two of them could spend a long time there, and her momma must've been counting on that.

Unbuckling from her carseat, she hopped down from the car as the car door was opened for her, her sneakers barely missing the puddle that was under her door. She reached up to grab the bag for their books, able to see the keychain that had their library cards hooked onto it in her daddy's hand. Feeling her hand being taken, she bounced on her feet a few times before getting helped with jumping over the puddle. She wiped her feet on the rugs before she practically skipped to the shelves where the held books were kept. She was lucky that they kept the letter K close to the ground or she wouldn't have been able to reach the books that her momma had requested. Putting the books into the bag so she could carry them easier, she tried her best to keep from running as she moved to catch up with her daddy. He took the bag from her as she caught up, letting her hook the chain onto the belt of her dress as she followed him around. She remembers hearing her uncle Alma call her a little duckling once or twice when she does this.

"Oh darn!" Turning around after jumping a little at hearing something fall and hit the floor behind them, she bent over to grab the heavy book, doing her best to hand it back to the order man who had dropped it.

"Here you go mister!" She was sure to keep her voice down with where they were, but she managed to relax more when the book was taken from her. Oh did it ever make her arms ache.

"Thank you sweetheart, how very nice of you." Nodding her head, she felt a hand on top of it after another moment, glancing up and behind her to see her daddy smiling back at her.

"Let's go check these books out little 'Bel, your momma just sent me a text to come back home when we were done. He also said to tell you that he found your crayons behind the telly." Bouncing on her feet again, she started getting excited. There was the secret word! That meant that everything was ready back at home for them. She handed the keychain up to her daddy as he put all the books on the counter, taking the bag to hold open for all the books to be put inside. She didn't get to carry the books out to the car herself though, instead being carried herself by her dad and put into the carseat. She almost couldn't hold her excitement for what was going to happen when they got home.

"If I didn't know any better I'd think the two of you are up to something. What's got you so hyper back there, Iso?" Covering her mouth with both of her hands, she tried to hide her giggles as she watched them come up to the driveway. It took them only one trip to bring all the bags into the kitchen, watching the confusion flit over her daddy's face in confusion. Her momma would usually come and help them with the groceries if he was home by the time they got back, but this time was different, and she knew why.

"Yu? We're home." She handed her bags up so they could be put on the counter as she heard the voice by the back door.

"I'm by the back door, I'll put the groceries away in a bit. Isobel, can you grab the box that's on the counter by the sink for me please?" She was quick to grab the box of candles, following quickly to the back door where she knew her uncles and cousins were outside.

This was their elaborate plan.

A birthday party.

"Did you two plan something? I'm not going to have a heart attack if I walk outside am I?" Handing the candles off to her momma, she reached as far as she could to help him push her daddy out the back door.

"Don't be dumb, bunny, just go outside. You didn't forget what today was did you." The moments passed slowly as he tried to remember the date.

"August….ninth? Is that what today is?" She stepped outside with her momma so the door could be closed, it was really warm outside.

"You're a day off. I can't believe I'm engaged to someone who forgot his own twenty-fourth birthday."

"Happy Birthday daddy!" She could finally watch as everyone came out from where they had hidden, obviously startling the red-head.

"I didn't even know. So was this what you and Isobel plotted all day?" Glancing from where Isobel had run off to with her cousins, he looked over to the other.

"Not quite, we've had this in the works since mid-July. Iso was more than happy to help distract you while Alma and the sprout helped me clean up and get things set." He didn't miss the shocked expression that was quickly shifted into a smile, able to feel his face flush a little. He couldn't even blame it on the heat and sun with them being on the porch under cover. "I know that you like parties, and I appreciate you respecting how I don't enjoy them. It's nothing big, but it's still something." He could feel as his left hand was grabbed, feeling warm fingers lace between his.

"Thank you, Yu. It's much more than I would have expected." Blinking a little bit, he glanced to the side, caught off guard by lips being pressed against his. He couldn't help how the color in his face went brighter at hearing teasing whistles from across the yard, able to quickly send a glare to his brother before turning his attention back to his fiance.

"Happy Birthday Lavi."


	9. Goats are Pretty Chill [Modern]

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This one takes place before Ryuuji is born,,,, well obviously since its where Allen and Alma find out about him [Allen 17, Alma 20]
> 
> Original Docs Title: Only I can stop me from writing angst every 30 seconds
> 
> Warning for vomit mention, being in public, and two idiots in love

"You have no idea how glad I am that Mana gave you permission to pick me up from classes if in got sick, I don't think I would've lasted another half hour in the nurse's office laying on that uncomfortable cot, especially this close to the end of the school year for us Seniors." Leaning his forehead up against the cool glass of the car window, he sighed softly, watching as it fogged up a little around his mouth. It was only about one or so in the afternoon, over an hour until his school day would normally be over, but he wasn't too glad for the early release. He still couldn't understand what had made him sick in the first place, the only thing he could think to blame it on being whatever one of his uncle's other students had brought in for lunch. That still didn't explain  _ why _ he got sick over smelling food, but he wanted to just brush it off as a stomach bug for now.

"I understand that, especially with Mrs.Cartler being the same as she always was. Does your stomach still hurt, or do you think you could get something down for now? It was barely lunch when you got to the office, so I know that you haven't eaten." Moving to sit back in his seat again, he felt his boyfriend's hand rubbing against the back of his shoulder. Barely catching those bright blue eyes look over to him, he wasn't prepared to hear the other laugh.

"What? Is there something on my face? I thought I cleaned everything off after I got sick in uncle Nea's classroom." Watching as the passenger visor was pulled down, all while the other still kept his attention mostly on the road, he took a brief glance into the mirror embedded in the material.

"Technically yes, there's a whole lot of red on your forehead. Hey!" Seeing the pressure mark from when he had been pressing his forehead to the window, he lightly batted at the other's arm in annoyance.

"Oh shut up Alma! I thought you were being serious. And anyway at least half of my forehead is red from my scar and the tattoo that covers it." Huffing a little under his breath, he turned to face the window to his side again, arms tugging at the jacket he was currently borrowing from the other. Feeling a warm hand on his leg, he tried to relax himself more. No need to get worked up and risk getting sick in his boyfriend's car, that would be a mess, literally.

"Sorry Allen. Anyway you didn't answer my question. I don't want you getting sick from not eating just as much as the other way around. If anything I'll pick something up for you for when you're feeling better." Blinking a little, he glanced down the street they were on for a moment.

"Probably just something small for right now, I really don't want to risk it." Glancing over to see Alma nod, he sat back more into the seat, watching as buildings and trees passed before the vehicle was stopped. He was getting ready to step out to go inside with the other, but felt his wrist being tugged on lightly so he was kept in his seat.

"Stay here, I'll be back in a little bit with the food. I'll leave the keys with you so you can keep the heater on and mess with the radio if you want. Send a message if you think of something you want from inside, we can stop by a store to get saltines and ginger ale on the way back to my place." Nodding, he kept himself unbuckled as he felt himself being kissed on the forehead, watching the young adult close the drivers side door and walk off. Picking his phone back up from where it had been charging in the center console, he accidentally turned on the radio with his wrist as he moved his hands, and unfortunately music was not playing on this station. Instead it was one of those advertisements for IVF that were always being played. They usually annoyed him to no end, mostly because it turned the car trip somber for longer than he liked. But something about it made him think, turning on his phone screen and barely managing to access the internet. Most of his searches led to the same one or two results, part of him honestly hoping that his subconscious was wrong in it's pleading guess to his ailment. He's seventeen and graduating in a few weeks, he doesn't need that on his plate right now. Not only that but he didn't know how Alma would react if it was the truth.

"I guess there wouldn't be harm in checking right? Either now or in three weeks it would probably give the same results so I don't know why I shouldn't at least check." Trying to get himself to calm down and breathe as he spoke, he turned up the radio, trying to use the music to drown out his thoughts. He was still sitting there like that when his boyfriend returned with a bag of food and two drinks in a carrier, setting the former behind his feet as he held the latter on his lap long enough for the other to get in and buckled up. The two cups were moved to their holders and the carrier tossed into the backseat with his backpack for now, himself buckling back in as the radio was turned down a tiny bit.

"Next stop, the drug store and then home. You can go ahead and start eating now if you want." Shaking his head at the offer, he made up his mind to join the other with entering the other establishment.

"I'll wait. Can I go in with you? I was looking at stuff to help with nausea and thought it wouldn't hurt. Also Nea mentioned that he needed more eye drops, and I doubt he got any yet." He wasn't originally planning on using his uncle as an excuse, but it did give him a fallback so the other wouldn't question him. Getting to and into the store was easy, so was finding the eye solution that his uncle used. Grabbing the little case with black bands in it, he would probably try putting them on in the vehicle to see if they'd even help him. Moving down the row silently, he glanced along the shelves before grabbing a box quickly, using the other items in his arms to hide the label in case anyone, including Alma, saw him before he made it to the registers. Moving to the front, he watched the black haired twenty year old step away from the counter with two bags understanding by body language that the other would wait for him in the car. Stepping forward and setting the three items on the counter, he grabbed his wallet quickly so he could pay and get out of there as soon as possible.

"Hoping for a miracle young man?" He refused to answer, almost nonverbally dismissing the question despite the reddening tint to his cheeks. Paying and taking the bag, he nearly forgot the receipt as he tried to get out of the store as soon as possible. He doubted that he'd ever be able to show his face there again.

"You alright? Your face is a little pale, are you feeling sick again?" Shaking his head a little as he got back into the car, he took the one package out of the bag before tossing the rest into his backpack, buckling in before he started fiddling with the packaging.

"I'm fine, just a little tired. Can we go home now? Please?" Feeling his hair being ruffled, he barely paid attention to the drive back to Alma's place, instead trying to distract himself with the black bands, getting them onto the pressure points on his wrists as best as he could. The next time he glanced up he could easily recognize the street they were on, especially when the other pulled into a driveway and turned off the car. The two of them managed to get inside with everything, the food going in the kitchen and his backpack in the bedroom for now.

"I'll put whatever you don't eat into the fridge for later." Nodding, he moved to sit down as he helped unpack the bag, unable to stay in his seat as he felt that he was going to be sick again and ran down the hall into the bathroom. He really wasn't expecting that.

"Well you don't have a fever. Why don't you try getting some sleep for now, I'll be here when you wake up." Nodding as he felt the warm hand being pulled away from his forehead, he accepted the blanket being pulled over him as he moved onto his side. After he had run from the room, Alma had found him in the bathroom and after getting cleaned up the other had carried him to bed where he was now, his shoes having been ditched by the bathroom door. All he knew was that he felt horrible, for being sick as well as for making his boyfriend put up with him. His sleep wasn't great, waking up randomly and having to take a sip from the bottle of soda on the bedside table. At some point around seven he gave up on sleep, finding his boyfriend clinging to him from behind.

Being as careful as he could be, he barely managed to get out of Alma's arms without waking him. Pacing silently over to his backpack and trying to be quiet as he tried to grab the box, he decided to leave the room before opening it and reading the directions. Stepping into the bathroom that was down the hall, he closed the door before he sat on the side of the tub, opening the box as he tried to read the directions on the side of it. That was it right? He just had to piss on it and wait a few minutes, seemed easy enough. Being careful not to make a mess in the bathroom, he made sure that the thermometer shaped object didn't touch anything other than his hands or the paper towel he had grabbed when he passed the kitchen, especially once it was used. Setting a timer on his phone for ten minutes, he rested his forehead on his knees as he had slid from the wall of the tub to the floor, trying to figure out what to do depending on the results. If it turned out negative he'd probably need to head to the doctor soon, but if it came out positive….

"Allen? What are you doing sitting on the bathroom floor? Did you get sick again?" Jumping a little in startled shock, he glanced up to see Alma standing in the doorway, short black hair a complete mess and sticking up in places. Shaking his head a bit, he faintly hoped that the other would just go back to bed and ignore him for now.

"No I'm fine, just wanted to think for a bit, you can go back to bed." He was almost comforted by how Alma moved to sit next to him on the floor. He leaned his head against the other's shoulder briefly, sighing softly as he tried to catch back up to his thoughts.

"Do you want to tell me what you're thinking about?" He almost decided against talking, but he might as well bring his boyfriend into what he was trying to think about. Sitting up a little, he checked the timer on his phone for a moment. Four minutes.

"What would you say to having kids, Alma?" He didn't want to see the other's expression, so he just stared at his bare feet. That reminded him, Lenalee asked him to paint her nails and she wanted to paint his nails in a few weeks before he graduated.

"I mean goats are pretty chill. Were you thinking about adopting a baby goat after graduating?" He blanked at the words he heard, a little calmer now as he heard Alma laugh a little. He really did love this dork.

"Not what I meant, but that's a little more comforting I guess." Chuckling softly, he sat up more where he was, glancing down and staring at his hands. "I meant the other version of the word. What are your thoughts on small children." Again he kept his line of sight skewed from the other, turning on his phone screen to check the timer again. Two minutes.

"I think they're chill too, at least most of them, not Yu." Hearing the light laugh, he glanced over finally to find the grin on Alma's face that most likely stemmed from an old memory. Oh, right, he always seemed to forget that the two of them were adopted together as kids, Kanda being younger by six months. From the stories he's heard from everyone the guy was a little brat. "I wouldn't mind having kids one day in the future, maybe not now but eventually." He could feel his grin drop slowly as he heard the words, glancing back to his feet. He didn't hear the question that followed, his ears just wanting to wait for the alarm to go off.

He wasn't prepared for his jaw to be grabbed, blinking his silver eyes as they met bright blue. "I had a feeling that you hadn't heard me. I asked if you had a reason for asking that." He was about to open his mouth to try giving an answer when he heard his phone start going off. Motioning silently that he'd get back to the question in a moment, he stood from the floor as he shut off the timer. He froze in his step as he caught sight of the results, feeling his blood run cold. So this was it.

"Allen? Are you crying? What's wrong?" Holding the test in one hand, he used the back of his arm to rub at his face as he turned back around, finding Alma already standing.

"I…." He couldn't stop himself as he choked on his tears, still trying to get through what he was trying to say despite them. "I-I asked because… because I'm…." He couldn't get the words out though, no matter how hard he tried to. Feeling himself being grabbed and pulled into a hug, he tried to calm his tears despite the dread combing through his nerves. He could feel fingers playing with his hair, appreciating the calming motion even if it wasn't helping him too much.

"Just breathe for right now, no need to try saying it while crying." He'd understand that he had been found out later on, but in the moment he just tried to follow the light directions. It took too long to get his crying to slow down enough for him to be coherent to the world, but when it was he felt hands cup his face, forcing him to look into his boyfriend's eyes.

"How do  _ you _ think of the situation? Your wants and opinions matter more than mine in dealing with this. I'll respect your decision no matter what it is." His eyes widened at the question, hand tightening it's grip on the test in his hand as he realized that he hadn't really needed to say the words himself.

"How….?" He only got the one word out before he watched the grin on the young adult grow.

"I saw the pregnancy test on the counter when I first walked in, and from your reaction to seeing the results I could figure that it turned out positive. Do you want to toss it out and talk somewhere less cramped?" Nodding silently, he tossed the used test into the bathroom trashcan, washing his hands thoroughly before he felt himself being picked up suddenly.

"Hey! Put me down." Hearing a laugh, he felt himself being dropped on the couch, moving to face Alma as he sat. He was still trying to think the situation over, but the fact that the other was offering to listen to what he wanted to say made him relax more, able to get to the information without much issue. "I want to keep them, I know I'm only seventeen but I'd rather be a young parent than knowingly giving up or killing my child. I don't want to make the mistake of becoming  _ my _ birth parents." He had closed his eyes as he spoke, refusing to open them after in mistaken fear. He didn't need to worry though, feeling warm lips cover his after a moment.

"I'm happy to hear that, and I'll stay with you through this no matter what." Smiling brightly, he rested his head on Alma's shoulder for a moment. They were quiet for a few moments longer before he heard the words, unable to control his laughter the moment his boyfriend started talking.

"I guess adopting a baby goat could wait a few years."


	10. Breakfast Blunder [Semi-Canon]

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Less than 12 hours after Isobel was born in semi-canon au, would've been placed right after her birth and before Ryuuji's if I didn't just finish writing it

"Sorry we're late to the party, Allen just wasn't having a nice time this morning." Glancing up from the snoozing bundle in his arms, he watched as his friend was socked in the arm. He could barely remember seeing the duo late last night, his memory foggy when he tried to think back. Glancing to the side as he felt a kiss to the side of his head, he sighed softly before sending his boyfriend a content look before Lavi took the seat beside him.

"It's no problem, the baby woke us up with her fussing. Yu's already fed her after a little trial and error, I don't think I've seen him get that flustered and upset at the same time ever in my life." Feeling his face flush brightly, he was quick to slam his foot on the other's, startled by his own soft gasp in pain. Oh right, his hips  _ still _ ache from last night.

"Just shut up, they don't need to know about that." Trying to brush off the questions he got about the soft sound, he glanced back to the table between the four of them and to his food. Doing his best to not jostle the bundle in his arms as he moved the sleeping newborn from both to one arm, he sent his partner a light glare, barely noticing that the other two had gone to get their own food.

"Are you sure that you're alright? I told you that I'd be more than happy to hold her while you eat." Glancing over to the red head, he unconsciously held their daughter closer to himself.

"I'm fine, and I've got her right now. It's not like you're never going to hold her, I just…." Trailing off a little, he didn't understand why he didn't want to let the baby go, ultimately blaming the hormones that still plagued his system. At least they would be going away sooner or later, and he couldn't wait till they did. Conversation was halted as the two of them started eating, picking back up softly when Alma and Allen returned with their food. He still had no idea how that kid could eat so much, even while pregnant.

Hearing a stack of trays falling with a loud clatter, he couldn't help how he jumped, startled by the loud noise before his eyes widened upon hearing the baby in his arms start fussing and crying. He didn't notice the silence around him as he tried to quickly calm the baby girl, all of his focus on those heartbreaking sobs as they quieted. The loud noise must've scared her. Glancing up once she quieted down again, he felt all eyes on him in the silence, looking to the other three at the table and silently asking how long he hadn't been paying attention.

"Five minutes. It took you just five minutes to calm her down and you haven't even had her for twelve hours yet." Blinking a little, he tried not to be too startled as the group of them were surrounded, holding his daughter closer to his chest. He really wished that everyone would go back to not paying him any mind, he didn't want them scaring his baby girl again.

"Hope I'm able to do that once this kid is born, otherwise I'm going to be asking you for pointers because that was amazing." Sending a look to the beansprout, he was still on edge from the crowd around them. Couldn't they take the hint that surrounding him wasn't going to make him show them the tiny girl? Feeling the presence to his side move, he almost wanted to pull Lavi back down, but stopped himself when he saw the other young adult trying to be crowd control.

"Please back off before you scare Isobel and make her cry again." Thankfully the group backed off and went back to their seats and meals, himself finally able to relax more and finish eating. Thankfully nothing more happened, and the group of them split up with plans to meet back up later on if energy permitted. Being helped with keeping his balance as he got up off the bench, he tried to ignore the stares he got, putting his focus on not shaking Isobel too much and walking as normally as he could. Regrettably he couldn't hide the still present limp in his step, but he just wanted to leave the room. Getting to the infirmary, he vaguely remembered that he and the tiny girl hadn't been properly checked early this morning, the wing having been more than busy and the three of them too exhausted to try heading down.

He was pulled over to a bed the moment one of the nurses caught sight of him, his heart dropping as he felt the tiny red head being taken from his arms. Feeling a warm hand trying to pull his hair behind his ear, he tried to visually follow the nurse who had taken his daughter from him, relaxing only a little as the two hadn't moved too far from him. It still hurt to be out of reach of the now fussing baby girl, especially when he wasn't going to be allowed to calm her down. The only thing that helped him was Lavi moving from his side and standing next to her letting her hold his finger as the younger adult answered questions.

"If she was born before two in the morning, why, pray tell, did you not come here before she had arrived or even while you were contracting." He really didn't like the woman's attitude towards him, flinching back as he felt cold fingers press into his, embarrassingly enough, still weighted middle. Even if that area wasn't sore physically, it would still be a sore subject with what felt like icicles digging into his skin. He didn't need to be reminded that he had gained weight.

"He was alone in our room when it started since I was helping bring finders down here from the ark last night, and by the time I got back to him and we tried to make our way here Isobel was already coming. We ended up getting help from Alma and Allen before going back to our room to sleep. There wasn't much blood and they were both perfectly fine after she came out." Feeling the cold points move away from him, he let out a breath, very relieved that Lavi had answered for him. Watching silently as the nurse who had Isobel started redressing the girl, causing a bit of crying when Lavi had to pull his fingers away, he couldn't help the look of pride that covered his face when he saw his daughter curl up into her father's arms the moment he held her. He remembered how she cried harder last night when Lavi had taken her from Alma before handing the sobbing baby girl to him, and he could feel his heart pulse at seeing the girl finding comfort in his boyfriend's arms finally.

Maybe if he ever did all of this again he could convince Komui to send Lavi on less missions.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I anticipate when I'll post the 15k I finished writing a week ago, because oh baby that's angst


	11. Double Trouble [Semi-Canon]

Shifting in his spot where he sat in his spot on the staircase of the training room they were currently in, he ran the potential skewers he called his fingers through the front of his hair, the low ponytail his god daughter put his hair in having loosened up a bit too much in the time he watched her and his eldest son spar. To his side sat the red-headed girl's equipment type weapon, the axe having been taken so she wouldn't have the urge to use it. Kanda and Lavi could teach her how to activate and use the battleaxe better than he could, even when he wasn't on medical leave. Tracing his right hand down his front, he sighed softly before catching as a kick was thrown and knocked the girl off her feet.

"Nice work Ryuu, you finally won against Iso in a spar. Even so, you need to keep an eye out for your own blind spot, that's been your biggest issue today." Smiling as the two kids walked over to him, he could see Isobel fix her pigtails as she walked, hopping up the four steps till she reached him.

"Thank you Uncle Allen for watching us while dad is working in the library. Momma and I have been telling him for weeks that Bookman was going to come after him again if he didn't do his work." Snorting a little at the girl, he felt as Ryuuji hugged him from behind.

"It's no problem Iso, you know that. Anyway I didn't think you'd want to be so bored since Kanda is on a mission." Smiling, he felt the two kids switch places, feeling small fingers brushing his hair back into a ponytail again.

"Daddy's on the same mission right? Are they going to be home soon? I miss daddy and uncle Yu." Running his fingers through his son's black hair, he tried to keep the smile on his face, trying not to show how messed up his emotions were. His partner and one of his oldest friends had been sent on a time sensitive mission nearly a week ago. He knows how the both of them fight, he's fought both of them himself many times before. But despite how much he trusted the two of them to return safe, part of him still feared that something important would happen. It didn't help that he's only a little over eight months pregnant, nor did the point that he had been visiting the infirmary once every three or four days since they had found out because of fatigue or any other miniscule issue.

He knew that he shouldn't worry or stress over things that he couldn't control, but he's always been that kind of person.

"Yeah, they're both on the same mission, they should be home either tonight or tomorrow if everything went well. Don't worry." He nearly missed the way his son looked at the girl behind him, knowing that the boy had seen his conflicted expression.

"Let's go back to your room and take a nap, mummy! Maybe they'll be back by the time we wake back up." Letting himself be tugged up onto his feet by both six year olds, he was suspicious of what they were trying to do for a moment before sighing. Of course they figured out that he was stressing over things, they're smarter than any of them were at their age, except maybe Lavi. He let himself be pulled out of the training room by both kids, lightly nodding to Timcanpy who had apparently gotten locked out of the room by accident.

"No shoes Ryuu! Even I know that!" Smiling at how Isobel laughed, he kicked off his slippers as he watched both kids put their shoes by the door, sitting on the bed for a moment to take off his sweater before laying on his side, chuckling softly as he watched the pair of best friends try finding their places on his husband's side of the bed. He outright laughed as Isobel's pigtail landed in Ryuuji's face. Eventually though he managed to fall into a light sleep, trying not to let scenarios plague his mind while he slept.

Waking no more than three hours later to pain, he was careful as he sat up, not wanting to wake either child who still slept on the other side of the bed. That was definitely concerning, though he tried to brush it off as a consequence for his worrying. 

At least until it happened again roughly twelve minutes later.

Taking a deep breath to try calming himself down, he waited to see if there was a pattern before he would let himself start worrying. He was only eight months pregnant, he shouldn't be going into labor  _ this _ early. At least he wished that his body and the universe listened to his logic as he started to get used to the pattern that the pains started to form. He'd have no way to get to the infirmary on his own like this, so he reached over carefully to try waking the two kids, trying not to show his internal panic on his face.

"Come on, wake up. Nap time can continue later." Relaxing slightly as he watched the two wake up slowly, he watched both sets of blue eyes look back at him curiously.

"Is something wrong uncle Allen?" Hearing Isobel speak, he pressed the back of his left hand up against his lower back. He tried to smile, to tell the two kids that he was alright, but he was sure that the way he flinched tipped the two off that something was wrong.

"I'm not feeling too well at the moment, could you both help me to the infirmary please?" He was a little startled by how quickly the two kids hopped off the bed and slipped on their shoes, himself pulling on his sweater and slippers before he was helped up from the side of the bed, feeling both of his hands being pulled as the children led him down the hall and a staircase to the infirmary, trying not to express the pain he felt every bundle of minutes. The moment he was led through the doors of the infirmary he could tell he drew attention, trying to relax as a nurse walked over.

"Mister Walker? Is there something the matter?" Nodding lightly, he took a quick breath, feeling another pain settle around his waist.

"I think I'm having contractions." He tried to say it loud enough where the nurse could hear him over the rest of the room, but quiet enough so the two kids wouldn't hear him. Watching the nurse's eyes widen, he felt his right wrist being taken as he was pulled to the back and into a separate room, able to hear Isobel and Ryuuji call after him and asking questions. He tried to keep his calm as he was helped with stripping down and getting onto the bed, watching as more nurses rushed over to check him.

"His waters are still intact, the contractions are roughly ten minutes apart, and it looks like he won't be giving birth for another few hours at the least." He didn't mind how the nurses were talking about him as if he were unconscious, he might as well have been with how sleepy he felt. Feeling himself being sat up, he kept his left arm close to his side as he felt the cool metal of the stethoscope against his bare skin, it's quick movement from over his heart worrying him a bit.

"His heart rate is high, I counted two-hundred beats in one minute." Glancing to the nurse who had spoken, he squinted in confusion, able to feel fingers being pressed against the side of his throat. He tried to stay still for a few minutes, groaning softly as he felt his child shift around. He watched as the two nurses spoke, the one with her fingers to his throat saying his heart rate was normal. Eventually the two had called Head Nurse over, the older woman taking the stethoscope from the one and placing it against his stomach instead of his chest.

"There's a high chance of you carrying twins, Allen. I don't know why we hadn't done this prior to now." He felt like his heart stopped for a moment at the words, but after a few minutes the news sunk in, many things becoming clear and understandable. So that was why he was so fatigued constantly. After he was thoroughly checked over he was given something to help him sleep, exhaustion having been battling the pain for no less than half an hour. He drifted off easily.

=+=

"Lavi slow down, what are you trying to ask us? I thought you were trapped in the library because Bookman found out you weren't doing your other job." Speaking clearly through his golem, he leaned up against the wall of the compartment he and Alma were in, his partner having made contact only ten minutes after they had gotten on the train.

"Well I was, and he let me free for now. Is Alma there?" Narrowing his eyes at the question, he raised an eyebrow in the questioned man's direction.

"I'm right here, Lavi, what's going on?"

"How do you get Ryuuji to stop panicking, he's really quiet and won't respond to anything I say. Isobel keeps saying something about fighting somebody but I haven't really asked about that because of Ryuuji." He watched as Alma's eyes widened at the mention of both of the kids, knowing that the only reason that both would be with Lavi is if Allen was busy.

"He needs to be held, it could take a bit but he should calm down. Why are they with you? Is Allen asleep?" They heard silence for a few moments before Lavi answered, able to hear a muttering Isobel in the background. She really sounded angry, and he wondered which poor sucker was on the receiving end of said anger.

"According to the nurses who spoke with me when I grabbed these two from the infirmary he's asleep. He's being kept down there because he started feeling contractions and they need to keep an eye on him, but it shouldn't be to the point of anything actually happening for a few hours at the least is what the one said." He barely grabbed the back of Alma's uniform, keeping the other general from running from the cabin and off the train.

"Thank you for letting us know Lavi, we should be back soon since we're on the train. Make sure Isobel doesn't kill anyone until I get there." Hearing the connection cut off, he practically shoved Alma onto one of the benches, watching his usually composed friend break at the thought of what was happening without him. "You heard what Lavi said, the beansprout should be asleep for at least a few more hours before he has the kid, we'll be there by then. You're not going to miss becoming a father for the second time, and he's so stubborn he'll probably try holding the kid in until you're there. Jumping off the train isn't going to help anyone, it'll probably just make beansprout panic if anything."

"But Yu-" Clicking his teeth, he plopped down on the bench beside the person he's known the longest in this cruel world.

"No buts, idiot. The beansprout is strong, he's gone through this once already, and with the way you two apparently go at it, it won't be the last time either. The kid's dealt with so much bullshit, I think you can handle waiting an hour or two on a train to get back to headquarters." Feeling a head land against his shoulder, he let it happen, not minding the use of himself as a headrest. At least he didn't need to worry about Alma jumping off the train anymore.

=+=

Groaning softly in pain, he opened his eyes slowly, sitting up as quickly as he was able to upon his brain catching up from being slowed by sleep, both of his hands clutching against his stomach. He felt as another contraction started up all too quickly, his cry in pain being muted by the shock of his water breaking, finally able to get it through his head that he was in labor and that he was going to be giving birth really soon. The sheets that covered the bed he was on soaked through quickly, the fabric starting to stick to him as fluids continued to dribble out of him after the initial splash.

It took a few more minutes of pain and sitting in the disturbingly sticky fluids before he was helped up off the bed and onto his feet long enough to get new sheets and wipe his legs off before he climbed back up with help. He tried his best to keep his breathing even, but eventually he couldn't manage to catch it between the contractions, the ever shortening gap leaving him near tears each time.

"Mister Walker we need to check if you're ready to start, please relax your legs." Shaking his head in refusal to the order he was given, he tried to hold back his scream. Alma hadn't arrived yet, and he didn't want to start without his husband by his side. He's pretty sure that at least three nurses tried to pull his legs apart, and he wouldn't have been surprised if the bones had been broken if just to check him. Feeling a hand on his shoulder, it took him a moment to regain the ability to see through the tears.

"Allen, please, if we try to wait any longer something could happen to either you or the babies. There's still a chance that he'll get here while you're pushing, but we can't wait for him any longer if we want to make sure that all three of you are alright." Freezing up at the words, he felt his world crash around him, new tears streaming down his cheeks as he nodded in understanding, relaxing his legs and letting them be pulled back. Taking a deep breath, he felt his right hand being taken, his left leant up against the wall so he wouldn't attack anyone.

The first push he gave was joined by an excruciatingly loud scream that came from his throat, almost sure that the entire order could hear that he was in pain. The second push happened near exactly the same, himself able to feel his second child moving through him almost too quickly. He didn't even hear the running footsteps under his screams of pain, too focused on the pain and that he was giving birth to pay attention to anything else even if he could hear it. The only reason he knew that Alma had even arrived was when his right hand was grabbed in two hands while he was mid-push, startling him enough that he heard the nurse that was supposed to be catching the baby yell in shock. Apparently he had managed to push the entire head out a little too quickly. Taking the few minutes he was given by his body gratefully, he looked to his right only to feel lips against his.

"I am so sorry I'm late, I heard you screaming from the gates and ran all the way here." Panting softly as he tried to catch his breath, he felt a soft hand against his cheek, wiping his tear tracks away.

"It's alright, you're here now." He tried to smile as he spoke, his expression instead changing to one of pain as he felt the shoulders press against him. Gritting his teeth at the pressure, he let out a breath as he pushed again, sure that everyone was grateful his screams of pain had grown quieter. He relaxed as he felt the shoulders leave him, a lighter set of pushes helping the baby slip out of him. He could feel a second baby shifting within him, but he wasn't getting an urge to push just yet, so he gladly watched as Alma, still in full uniform with his weapon strapped to his hip, cut their newborn daughter's cord, instantly able to see the dark patch of hair on her head. He took the tiny girl quickly as soon as she was deemed safe enough to lay with him until everything was over.

And that is when he was startled by his own yell in shock and pain, feeling the head of his third child start through him quickly. He could hear his daughter go from her softer sobs to outright screaming with him. His third child took so much longer to come out, especially since the head continued to get stuck every inch or so of progress. He was definitely back to screaming and crying at the top of his lungs, feeling like he was being split in half by the baby's head alone. He wasn't expecting the excruciatingly sharp pain that ran up his spine as he felt the head pop out of him, groaning at how he felt like he had a fresh wound that now stung every bit of movement he made. He felt dizzy as he watched his husband cutting their younger son's cord before taking the sobbing boy in his arms. He could feel as the nurses were working on him, able to finally relax when the afterbirth came out.

"Ami and Kyō." He couldn't help how he mumbled the names, exhausted beyond belief from what he had just done. He was sure he heard Alma chuckle at him, and he let his daughter be taken from his hold as he slowly slipped from consciousness.

=+=

Omake

"You want to meet your little siblings, don't you Ryuu? Let's go, they're in there with your mum and dad." He could hear Lavi's voice on the other side of the door, having finally woken up an hour and a half ago. He held Kyō now, Ami asleep in Alma's arms beside him. His left hand was wrapped in a blanket by his own request, he had been terrified that he would hurt his youngest son by accident if the hand was unwrapped. Watching the door to the room open, he smiled as he saw Ryuuji hiding behind Kanda's leg. Slowly but surely the four of them with Isobel's help got the boy to enter the room, himself scooting over a bit, very careful and mindful of his newest injury, to let the boy be sat beside him.

"Baby?" He saw that Ryuuji's attention instantly went to the baby that was next to him, little Kyō, and he waited with baited breath for his eldest son's reaction to being an older brother, let alone to twins.

"Yes baby, this is your little brother Kyō, Ryuu." It was obviously going to go one at a time, but he couldn't stop his smile as he saw Isobel look between Alma and Ami up close.

"Hi baby Kyō, hi baby brother." He covered his mouth as he watched his sons interact, trying to keep as quiet as possible when Ryuuji kissed his baby brother on the head.

"Ryuuji, look who I have." Biting his lip so he wouldn't laugh and startle the day old in his arms, he watched as Kanda caught the boy before he fell off the side of the bed trying to see what Alma had. The moment Ryuuji saw the baby in his father's arms the boy looked between himself and Alma, confusion across his face. "This is your baby sister Ami. She's asleep so you need to be quiet." You could see the wheels turning for the boy as he processed the information.

"Two babies?" He could only nod as he watched his eldest son's bright blue eyes practically sparkle and shine.

"Yes, two babies." He enjoyed watching as Ryuuji interacted with his baby sister, hearing someone come up on his other side.

"So that's why you were screaming so much." Snorting softly, he fixed how the blanket was wrapped around the baby in his arms, smiling at the small boy.

"Well yes, but most of the worse screaming was from Kyō's big head. I had to have stitches and I'm not allowed to stand up until after it starts healing." Sighing, he felt Kyō squirm in his arms, a soft whine as the baby grew fussy.

"Definitely Alma's kid, big head and all." He couldn't stop himself from laughing at those words, especially after hearing his husband's response. It's like they're a big family, all eight of them.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> After this I have a modern au piece lined up before the 4 part series of unfortunate events in semi-canon. I also have a mini crossover in the works that I hope to have done soon [it won't be posted for a bit longer since you haven't met two of the kids in it but I'm getting things done!]


	12. Baby's First Murder [Semi-Canon]

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's another semi-canon because I forgot to share Isobel's first mission! I'll post the Modern one-shot in a bit since I'm late with this post

"We'll be back in a few days, don't worry about us too much. It's just a simple retrieval mission and there's only sightings of level ones and twos near the area." Holding onto her daddy's hand as she stood between him and her uncle Allen, she bounced a little on her feet in excitement at being taken on a mission with them. Though she  _ was _ a little put off by how she wasn't being given a uniform.

"Yes I know that, but please be careful anyway. The only reason why I'm sending Isobel with you both is for her to learn, keep that in mind. I won't be the only one going after you both if something happens to her, you're lucky that Kanda is in the middle of a mission." Hearing her daddy sigh, she couldn't help but send a look to her uncle Komui.

"Maybe remember that I'm her parent too. We'll be fine." Feeling as she was turned to face her dad, she grinned as her bangs were pushed aside and she felt a kiss being pressed to her forehead. "Let's go little 'Bel." She could hear as her uncle said goodbye to the three of them, running to catch up with both adults.

xxx

"Alright, now what are you supposed to do while your dad and I fight the akuma?" Fixing her pigtails as she walked next to her uncle, she glanced up to him for a moment as she tied the hair together.

"Stay back and watch, only follow if you get too far away from me. Hide so I can't be seen by them since I'm not supposed to fight." Hopping a little as she walked, she could see her dad talking with one of the finders that had come with them. She was about to run over to him when she heard a scream, being pulled back behind her uncle. She had only ever seen her uncle's innocence activated when he had shown all of them it while they were in the training room a few months before she synchronized with her weapon. He kept saying it looked different when he was younger, but she thought it looked really cool.

"That was right Isobel, now it's time to act on it. Stay back and watch us. Lavi, there's about twenty that I can count at the moment!" Moving from behind her uncle and under a cart that had been left in place while some of the civilians had run from the area. She couldn't understand why everyone hadn't run, then again she also didn't know who was the enemy amongst the crowd. She was a bit startled as the machines had started to surround her dad and uncle, but watching and hearing each fall excited her. Getting up from under the cart, she moved to stand in the crowd, keeping towards the edge so she could be able to move out of the way easily. She liked watching them fight together, and part of her wanted to join them, but she didn't want to get into trouble and get her daddy and uncle in trouble so she tried to stay put. She's been shown pictures of level ones and twos before, but seeing them in person was something completely different.

And then she saw one that she couldn't recognize.

And then there were two of it.

Watching in silent shock and awe as the rest of the level ones and twos in combat were taken out with a combination of cross grave and a fire stamp (two things she had only had described to her before now), she barely heard the finder they were with from where he stood in the alley to her side.

"Nobody had reported any level threes before now, they must've just evolved within the last few days." So that's what a level three looked like. She would've continued to watch from where she was if she hadn't noticed the man that had been standing beside her. For a moment she thought he was just acting strangely because of the fight they could all see.

And then she saw the man's face morph into a gun that was aimed towards Allen's back. She barely noticed how she had grabbed her axe from its holster on her hip, nor had she noticed how it activated the moment it was in both of her hands. She knew that she wasn't supposed to fight and part of her remembered that her uncle would be fine if he was shot at. But that didn't stop her from severing the man's head from his body. The scarcely populated road was silent for a few moments before she couldn't hear anything except the yelling. It seemed like everyone was either running from her or trying to come closer, the latter group attempting to take her axe and asking where her mother was.

They didn't seem to believe her when she said he was in Russia.

Watching with wide eyes as more people distorted in front of her, hands, faces, and torsos shifting into looking like guns aimed for her, she couldn't think of a way to get away. She's glad that she didn't have to. She wasn't exactly tall enough to reach much higher than an adult's torso with her axe without jumping, but she figured that it would be fine if she couldn't reach and remove the heads. And she was, especially when the rest were taken care of after the first few she had chopped in half, startled as she was picked up from behind and hugged.

"I thought you were told to hide and  _ not _ fight, Miss Isobel Hikari Kanda." Looking away as she heard Allen walk back over to them, she felt her axe deactivate, though still covered in one part by akuma blood.

"I'm sorry. I saw one of them aiming at uncle Allen and you two were busy so I just tried to get it to stop, but when I did more came after me. I didn't mean to not listen." Feeling herself being hugged again, she blinked as she heard both of them start laughing, feeling as her axe was taken and wiped off.

"Well that was really dangerous for you to do, especially in a crowd, but I'm pretty sure we're both really proud of you for doing it without being told to. Next time you should wait for instructions before going off and beheading someone in the street though. Let's go get the innocence we came here to get and head back to the inn we stayed at last night. We're going to be leaving to head back tomorrow morning." Bouncing a little on her feet, she put her axe back in its holster before she was picked up, laughing as she got a piggy back ride on their walk to the town center that the finder had led them to. She was the one who carried it back to the inn, watching as her uncle hid it in a pocket of his uniform once getting back to the room. After she was changed into her night gown and her hair was braided she couldn't help but fall asleep next to her dad.

xxx

"You let her  _ what _ ?" Helping her dad turn in the report from the mission while Allen went to hand off the fragment to Helvaska before joining them, she didn't enjoy how her daddy was being scolded for what she had done.

"It's not like either of us had the ability to stop her, especially since Allen and I were fighting level threes. She held her own  _ very _ well and managed to destroy about six akuma before we got back to her." She couldn't tell if she should be acting scolded or encouraged, but the moment she could hear the voices coming from down the hall she perked up, running to her momma as he entered the room in the middle of an argument with her uncle Allen.

"Hello there Iso, how was your first mission? Komui I'm back." Giggling a little as she felt her head being patted before her hand was taken, she reached for her daddy's hand too, hopping on her toes while she held both.

"Welcome home Kanda, you're just in time for the conversation we're having. Apparently Isobel has already destroyed her first akuma, her first six to be precise." She didn't exactly understand  _ why _ her momma almost instantly looked at Allen, but she managed to pull on his hand so he wouldn't go after the twenty-five year old.

"No momma, don't be mad at uncle Allen and daddy, they were fighting threes. I killed them so they wouldn't shoot at uncle and daddy while they were fighting. I'm sorry I didn't listen." Watching her momma's face as she explained what had happened, she was glad that he didn't look as angry as he did before.

"I'm not mad, Iso, they both really should have been paying better attention though. I'm actually really proud of how you took out so many on your own." She didn't know that she had missed a glare her momma had sent over her head when he hugged her, but she guessed that it explained why her daddy slept in the lounge for the next week.


	13. Little Hands [Modern]

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Docs title: Allen is a tired mama :pensive:
> 
> You don't know only ONE baby here [that's talked about I mean, Allen is pregnant in this one but that kid isn't really mentioned]  
> You'll meet her fully in the next few one-shots, which will be Semi-canon
> 
> If I don't post another modern au piece before then at least

"Ami! Kyō! Stop running around so much." Chasing after the set of twins that barely evaded him, he had to keep his footing so he didn't run into the wall. Hearing the back door slide open again for the third time in the past hour, he managed to grab the back of his daughter's shirt as his eldest son and his god-daughter stepped into the kitchen again. Holding the dark haired girl against his side, he stood still for a moment to catch his breath before continuing after his youngest.

"Can we go ask the neighbor if we can get the frisbee from his yard? It went over the fence again." Hearing the question, he sighed softly, lightly regretting that he agreed to watch the kids alone while the other three were at the store picking up more supplies for either project. At least once the one was finished he wouldn't have to worry too much about the elder two trying to climb over the fence or running off randomly.

"He isn't home yet Ryuuji, I'll ask later on though. For now, please go wash up and help your little siblings do the same, it's time for lunch and then we're all going to rest for a while." Hearing the black haired nine year old groan softly as he set the elder four year old down again, he held his tongue against going after the boy.

"Okay uncle Allen! Come on Ryuu! I bet I can help Ami clean up faster than you can~." Snorting softly as he watched the red-head grab his daughter's arm, he could barely hear his son's response as the three of them ran down the hallway towards the bathroom.

"Oh you are so on Iso. Kyō! We've got to beat the girls, get over here!" He'd normally scold the kids for running and yelling in the house, but he wasn't about to stop their contest. Stepping closer to the counter, he set to fixing up lunches for each of them, setting aside three more plates of food in case the other adults returned sooner than planned. Resting his hip against the ledge of the counter, he pressed his right hand against his front, trying to get his balance back without losing his breakfast again. Setting the plates out on the table as he heard four sets of feet coming back towards him, he had to catch one of the chairs from toppling backwards as his youngest threw himself into the seat. After lunch he had managed to round all four kids into the living room to watch a movie, finally able to relax as each fell asleep, Isobel's head laying on his leg as his hand ran through the deep red pigtails. Closing his eyes, he wasn't trying to doze off where he sat, but boy did he ever need it.

xxx

"Isobel, come on." Hearing her best friend's voice, she stayed as still as she could so she wouldn't wake her godfather by accident. Opening her eyes, deep blue met lighter shades, dual sets of silver hiding behind their elder brother. Moving the pale hand from her hair carefully, she slowly got up off the couch before following after the three younger children.

"What are we doing Ryuuji? You know he's gonna be mad if we break something while we were supposed to be asleep." Narrowing her eyes at the shorter nine year old, she fixed her high pigtails as the group of them silently moved down the hallway.

"Didn't you want to see the baby's room?" Blinking softly, she nodded as the four of them quickly ducked into a room, tarp crinkling under their feet as they walked. The window was open, letting the wind dry the walls silently, cans of paint littering the floor, holding down the plastic from rolling up at the corners. The walls were a light shade of yellow, the moulding being protected by the paint tape at the edges. Hearing something pop in the room behind her, she regretted not turning to see what it came from when she felt the thick fluids hitting the back of her neck and shirt, already able to tell that the yellow paint was all in her red hair. Turning on her heel, she puffed out her cheeks at the trio of siblings, noticing that the younger two were already covered in paint of different colors.

Oh this was war.

Dashing deftly to one of the corners of the room, she found light green paint, the color she remembers having seen in Kyō's room. Dipping her hands into the cold paint, she grinned manically as she turned to face the trio.

"Oh Ryuuji~ I think green would look real nice against your hair don't you?" Sprinting forward as she caught the boy off guard, she pressed both her paint covered hands against his cheeks, the green goop getting onto the pale boy's face and into his short black hair. She didn't know when she had gotten her hands covered in purple paint, but the four of them were eventually caught paint-handed, able to hear her dad's laughter as she was taken down the hall and into the bathroom by her momma who tried to help her get the multicolored paint out of her hair.

xxx

"Allen, come on and wake up, you should probably sleep in bed. It is definitely more comfortable than the couch." Hearing his husband's voice from above him, he huffed a little under his breath as he slowly opened his eyes.

"Alma? When did you get back, I didn't hear you come in." Blinking a few times, he barely noticed how dim the room was, orange tinged light washing across the floor from the windows. Watching the man laugh a little, he couldn't help but rub sleepily at his eyes, feeling a kiss being pressed to his temple.

"The three of us have been back for nearly an hour sweetheart, you were absolutely dead asleep. At least that explains what happened with the kids." He was sure that he had nearly knocked the other man on his ass when he tried to stand up, looking around the room for the mentioned children. Feeling a hand grab his arm, another pressed against his cheek as he was turned to look into those sky blue irises. "Allen, calm down, they're fine, they just got into something they shouldn't have. Yu and Lavi are giving the twins a bath, Kyō might need a haircut though."

" _ Alma. _ " Huffing under his breath, he tried to get an answer from the taller. "What did they get into? I should've been watching them, not sleeping." Hearing laughter, he felt his hair being pulled back and tied up, able to feel a mask being pulled over his mouth.

"You probably want to see for yourself, it's a mess but not too bad. You should probably take off your slippers first though, don't want to get those dirty." Kicking off the footwear, he felt himself being led down the hall, his heart sinking as he was stopped right outside the door into the nursery. Oh what did those four do? He almost didn't want to look in fear of the wreck the room most likely was. Pulling at the mask that sat over his mouth that would hopefully protect him from the paint fumes at least a little bit, he felt a hand against his lower back as the door was opened before them.

Alma was right, it is a mess, but sometimes that's just what masterpieces look like. He had seen the yellow walls in passing while they were drying, but now it was much different, and he was glad that there were tarps down, the puddles of mixed paint scattered around the floor would have given all of them a hard time if it was on the floor underneath. Taking a few careful steps in, he flinched back as his bare feet landed in orange paint, looking around at the splattered walls. Drops of paint in a rainbow of colors reaching everywhere, including the bush that sat outside the window.

"What a mess. I'm guessing that most of the paint actually got on the kids in that case? I like how it looks." He was a little muffled by the mask, but he knew his husband could understand him. Seeing a nod, he continued to look at the walls, noticing Alma turn his back to him. Glancing down to the puddles of wet paint, he looked at the bottom of his foot for a moment before grinning. Placing one of his hands against the wall for support, he did his best to keep quiet until after he left the orange footprint on his partner's rear, nearly falling in laughter at how Alma turned around in an instant after he did it, the both of them nearly hysterical at what he'd just done. Being helped with cleaning his feet off before they left the room, he cupped Alma's face in both hands to kiss the dark haired man, being caught off guard by a yellow hand print appearing under his hand. Hand prints, what a nice idea.

A few days later after the other three had finished cleaning the nursery floor, he took his time with the paintbrush in hand, carefully painting the letters on each block of wood before he would hang them on the wall. He smiled as he heard the other three adults helping the children wash the paint off their hands, placing the paintbrush into the water cup. Sitting before him were eighteen wooden blocks, different colored hand prints centered on each with a name in the bottom corner.

Omake

"So how was Suzu while we were gone the other day?" Blinking as he watched Lavi stick and secure the hooks for the blocks on the wall, he made sure the pieces of twine he had looped each block onto were secure and wouldn't come undone too quickly.

"Oh she was an angel, stayed asleep for the most part. I didn't hear her cry through the baby monitor even once while I was trying to gather the other four and get them ready for lunch." Handing one of the larger blocks over after a moment so it could be hung just out of his reach. The other seven were in the next room as far as he knew, then again he could swear that he had heard the kitchen door open and slide shut a few minutes ago.

"Well that's good, especially since you were dead asleep when we got back. When Yu got to her after we found the kids she was apparently awake, completely calm too. He doubts that it came from me, but according to panda I would just stare at things as a baby. Want to hand the next block to me?" Laughing a little as he handed the next wooden block over, he could barely believe that his friend was that calm as a child, then again he  _ is _ technically the smartest of the group of them. Hearing the kitchen door again, he glanced back as he heard his husband enter the room. Feeling as arms wrapped around his waist, his heart most definitely sped up as it usually did when Alma showed affection to their unborn child in front of others. He knew his face was probably red, but he was glad that neither of the other two teased him for it. As he hung the last painted block himself, he grinned, a little too excited to add another to the wall in the next few months.


	14. Sickness and Health [Modern]

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Docs title: Oh I'm gettin heart palpitations my dear  
> Sick fic is sorts, showcases some past trauma I never finished writing up, hella short though

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The angst will start soon, just a little bit of fear for right now until I can post the three chapters

"Mummy? Where's papa?" Sighing softly, he ran his fingers through his four year old son's short black hair. The only reason the boy was awake at this late at night was because Ryuuji had come down with a stomach flu two days before, leaving himself to stay up with his son when the boy couldn't get to sleep. What wasn't helpful was his own nausea, but it's not like you can control the symptoms of being pregnant.

"He went to go get you more medicine baby. Now how about we try getting some sleep, alright? It's really late at night." Watching his ill son nod, he was careful as he lifted the boy into his arms and carried him down the hall to the child's bedroom. He already knew if this didn't work he'd have to sit up with the little boy for the rest of the night. Setting the clean bucket beside the bed after he tucked Ryuuji under the covers loosely, he made sure that the boy would be alright in the case he was sick again before heading back down the hall to the kitchen. Hearing the clink of his wedding ring against the ceramic of his lukewarm teacup, he couldn't help but be a little worried about his husband of four and a half months. Alma had left for the store around one thirty this morning to find something they could use to help their son get better, but by now it was a few minutes after three. He didn't know how long he sat there with his now cold cup of tea in hand, but he could hear the rain outside slow down a little.

And then his phone rang, startling him out of his half asleep stupor. Answering the device after checking the caller ID, he wondered why the other was calling him. Maybe he forgot what he was supposed to be getting? Or at least, that's what he would have thought if the rain wasn't so loud through the device. "Alma? Is something the matter?"

"So I accidentally totaled the car." He felt his heart stop at those words, fear and dread creeping into his system.

"Are you alright?! Are you hurt? What happened?!" He spoke almost too quickly, almost sure that the other couldn't understand him.

"Allen,  _ Allen _ , I'm fine. Just a few scrapes and bruises that's it. I was on my way home and I hydroplaned into a tree. I've already called the brigade and they're here helping with cleaning up." Letting out a breath in relief, he tried to calm his nerves with the information that Alma was alright.

"You don't know how glad I am to hear that." He could hear the sound of trucks and people working in the background, lightly coming to the realization for a reason behind the phone call. "You need me to come get you, don't you. That's why you called." He heard the light chuckle over the phone, standing from the table to grab his coat and shoes and a set of each for his son. He had vaguely heard the boy get out of bed again a few minutes ago, so at least he didn't have to wake the boy up this time.

"Yeah, I'm sorry. I know you're tired from staying up with Ryuu the past few days and the babies aren't much help." Sighing softly as he slipped his shoes on, he paced down the hallway to the boy's room with both coats over his empty arm, the shoes held in the same hand as he kept his phone to his ear.

"It's fine, maybe we'll all get some sleep once you're back home with us. Text me the address you're closest to so I know what to plug into my map, I doubt you'll want to stand in the rain for another four hours as I get lost." Hearing another laugh, he paused right outside Ryuuji's room, briefly seeing the boy sitting on the floor with the bucket in hand through the crack in the door.

"Alright, I'll see you when you get here. Love you." Smiling slightly, he used one of his feet to carefully open the door.

"I love you too, we'll see you soon." Hanging up the device, he stuffed it into the pocket of his night pants, kneeling on the floor to help get his son's shoes and coat on. The four year old was easily pliant as he dressed the boy, briefly moving to the bathroom to rinse the bucket out in case it was needed while they were in the car. He was sure they were both glad that they had two vehicles at this moment, otherwise they'd have had to get a hold of someone else.

Pulling the hood of his coat back down as he climbed into the driver's seat after buckling the boy into his carseat, he tried to brush his bangs from his face as he buckled in, already glad that the rain had slowed down to a drizzle. They didn't need the both of them hitting trees tonight. Making sure Ryuuji was alright, he turned on the map on his phone, making sure the volume wasn't too high as he started the car and began driving. He was going almost too slow on the roads, especially ones that were slightly flooded. He was glad that he wasn't pulled over for being below the limit, he didn't think he'd be able to get through explaining without breaking down.

Catching sight of his husband under a long since closed shop's awning as he pulled into the empty lot of a fuel station, he was careful as he shifted the car into park. Unbuckling from the seat, he opened the driver's side door, hopping out long enough to be pulled into a hug. Feeling the hood of his coat being pulled up over his head, he closed his eyes lightly, the feeling of warmth and familiarity calming his previously scrambled nerves.

"Lets get home and get to sleep, okay? I'm sure that you're exhausted." Nodding silently, he climbed into the passenger seat as he handed off the keys, all of his attention shifting to the heavily asleep child in the back of the car. At least Ryuuji would hopefully get some good sleep. The trip back home was silent, himself partially dozing off as his husband drove, part of him forgetting the reason why all three of them were out tonight. Climbing out of the car, he shooed the elder adult into the house, being careful as he lifted his son from the backseat to take to bed.

"Are  _ you _ alright? You haven't said a word to me since we talked on the phone." Climbing into bed after drying his hair and hanging his coat up, he barely registered the words from his partner as he practically clung to the warm body. Staying still for a moment, he traced his left hand against his husband's chest, the red stained looking skin running against porcelain and ink for a moment before the limb was held over the other's heart.

"You're alright, you're not hurt or unconscious. You're living, breathing, awake and alive right here next to me." He didn't enjoy the feeling of tears forming in his eyes as he spoke up. He could tell that the other froze for a moment at his words, feeling as arms loosely wrapped around his waist after another moment.

"I am alright, and so are you, we're both here and okay. I'm sorry for bringing those memories back, even if only by accident." Feeling black hair tickle the side of his face as a cheek was pressed against his jaw, he hummed softly, wrapping his arms around Alma's shoulders.

"Thank you. I don't know how I'd survive if a second person I love gets put in the hospital in a coma for nearly a year, let alone in less than ten years." Sighing softly as he felt a kiss to his cheek, he closed his eyes softly. "Sorry for being so melodramatic…."

"It's fine Allen, you're allowed to be dramatic. Not only did you learn it from your uncle, but you've got enough hormones to even scare your goduncle, and Cross is a scary asshole on a  _ good _ day." Laughing softly, he opened his eyes to bright blues staring right back at him, feeling a forehead pressed right up against his own.

"I love you, Alma."

"I love you too, Allen, but let's get some sleep before Ryuu wakes up sick again." Hearing the soft chuckle, he nodded, closing his eyes and tugging the blankets over the both of them more. The two of them managed to get some good sleep for the rest of the night, but within a few more days it was overly apparent that they hadn't gotten through the four year old's illness unscathed, especially when his little helper was carrying a cup of tea to give to his father. He was glad that he didn't come down with it, but he just guessed that he'd have something to thank the duo for. 


	15. Don't Cry For Me [Semi-Canon]

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Major Warning ⚠: Major Character Death both described and referred to, injury mention, blood mention, fear of death of a parent  
> Minor Warning: Ami, minor familial embarrassment, Yu Kanda with hormones
> 
> Docs title: Hi I'd like to report a murder
> 
> Fuck off I'm not writing Alma dying, we see that in Canon already. Have some angst to start your October.  
> Part 1/4

_ "Hey, shhh, don't cry over me. It's going to be fine, you're both going to be fine. Trust me." He couldn't say a word in response, almost unsure in the reassuring words the two of them were being sent. He could hear the soft sniffling from his daughter who stood beside him, but he refused to acknowledge the tears that threatened to overflow from his eyes. "Would you smile for me, please? You shouldn't cry over me." It wouldn't be right to refuse a final wish, and from the edge of his vision he could see the eleven year old beside him smile through her tears. _

_ It hurt him to follow through though, because it meant accepting what was going to happen. He knew that it could've happened at any time, they all knew that it would happen eventually being in this profession, but who could blame him for not wanting it to happen so soon. He tried to smile anyway though, an expression that still felt so foreign after managing to use it for twelve years. Watching silently as the smaller redhead moved closer to the bedside, it would've been impossible to hide or forget how his eyes stung when the tears finally overflowed and started streaming down his face. _

_ "I love you, daddy." Watching as she gave both a hug and a kiss to her father, he couldn't blame the girl for leaving the room only a few moments later. Watching as his husband's unbandaged hand motioned to be held, he pulled a chair closer to the bedside, sitting down before taking the much cooler hand in his. He could feel the fingers lace between his, resting his arm beside his partner's on the covers so the man wouldn't strain himself. The two of them sat in silence for a few minutes, himself watching the weak rising and falling of the other's chest, especially under the dyed red bandages. _

_ "Yu" Blinking a little as he heard himself being addressed, he found the singular green eye trained on him. "Take my earring." He could tell that his eyes had widened, stunned by the request. _

_ "Why?" His voice sounded so off in his ears, but he could only blame that on his crying. _

_ "To keep the pair together. I want it to be hard for you to forget about me, as selfish as it sounds." He couldn't stop the weak laugh, still upset but somehow finding humor in the other's words. _

_ "Idiot, I'll never be able to forget about you, not that I'd ever want to." Moving his free hand to the piece of jewelry in question, he sat forward enough to pull the piece out of the other's ear as carefully as possible. He made sure that he knew where the empty earring hole was before he put the pieces in his ear. It took a few moments for him to be able to move his hand away from his ear, unable to clearly tell if the weight of the metal pieces was purely emotional or physical. _

_ "Much better." Rolling his eyes at the words, he sat forward again to press a kiss to the rough lips, wanting to savor the feeling so he wouldn't forget it. The silence that surrounded them felt less suffocating, able to watch as his husband's breathing slowed ever so slightly. _

_ "I love you, Yu." Hearing the words, he squeezed the hand in his, trying both to rush and not rush his own words as he spoke them. _

_ "I love you too, Lavi." He watched as that vibrant green eye closed, watching still as the breathing slowed to a stop over the course of another silence filled hour. He stayed there for another hour or so before he left the room, pressing one final kiss to those cold lips. _

xxx

He understood the worry that everyone looked to him with, and he appreciated the time away from missions to mourn, but three weeks felt too long. Pacing silently back through the gate, he watched as the other exorcists he had been sent with talked, one of them heading to turn in their mission report. Making it halfway down the hall on his way back to his old room before he felt lightheaded, he used his right shoulder to press up against the wall, his right hand tracing up and down the bandaging on his left arm. Pulling his hand away and into his eyesight he could plainly see the deep red in the lamplight, the thick fluid coating his fingers from some wound that hadn't healed yet.

Wait, he hadn't healed yet? What was that supposed to mean? Was his seal weakening that badly? He knew he hadn't been in a serious battle that would call for it to slow this much in about a month, and the wound that he still bled from wasn't too bad at all. Using the back of his wrist to push himself off the wall, he headed back a bit, going into the rooms that he shared with Isobel. With his hand still covered in blood and more of the sticky fluid dripping down his left arm he opened the door and headed into the bathroom, slipping his unbuttoned uniform jacket off before taking in his full appearance in the mirror. His deep blue eyes were bloodshot, long hair a tangled mess from when he had haphazardly tied it up this morning, bandages wrapped from his neck and upper chest down his entire left arm like a white and red sleeve. It wasn't hard to see the bags under his eyes from being unable to sleep, but that wasn't what he needed to be focused on.

Grabbing gauze that he had swiped from the infirmary years ago to take care of his and Isobel's smaller wounds, he tore off the bloody bandages before he took his shirt off, wanting to see all of what hadn't healed. Most of what he found were light bruises and scrapes that had stopped bleeding hours ago, but the two or three still open wounds scared him despite how small they were. Wrapping up what still bled and tucking the gauze to keep it secure, he tossed out the used bandages, filling a cup with water to take with him to bed. He felt exhausted for the first time in days, planning to head to bed and blame it on the blood loss later on. Curling up in the cold bed on his side, he vaguely remembered the last time he had bled this much. But it couldn't be possible, so he tried to brush the thought away as he drifted.

xxx

"Stop talking about him like that! You're no better than the enemy if you think that way about us. All because a piece of us is dead doesn't mean that we'll turn around and accept the Earl's offer." Her hands were itching to grab her axe from its holster on her hip, but she knew that she shouldn't. They were only finders and a few men from the science division, but that didn't stop the urge. Clenching her fists to her sides, she couldn't stop her yell in frustration as she stomped out of the room. Hearing running footsteps behind her, she almost had half a mind to knock whoever it was down, freezing up as she saw her uncle trying to catch up with her.

"I can't believe that I'm going to say this, but your mum would be so proud of what you just did and didn't do if he had seen it. I was trying to get through the crowd while you were still in the dining hall, but I'm glad that I didn't or it'd have taken me longer to catch up with you." She nearly knocked her uncle off his feet when she threw herself at him, pressing her face into his shirt and vest. She could feel as arms wrapped around her shoulders, human fingers lightly brushing through her pigtails as she tried to calm herself down. Pulling away from the older man, she felt as her cheeks were squished by tepid hands, pouting a little to get the silver haired twenty-eight year old to laugh.

She wouldn't laugh, she couldn't.

"Do you know when momma is supposed to be back from his mission?" Watching silver eyes blink as she stepped away, she glanced to the side of the hall, her eyes trailing along the edge of the floor and wall where dust and dirt managed to hide. 

"I heard that everyone from that mission got back a few hours ago, and that all but your mum went to the infirmary to get their wounds checked, like normal. Let's go find him Iso, Ami and Kyō are training with Lenalee for a few more hours and Ryuuji isn't supposed to be back until tomorrow night." Nodding silently, she took her uncle's hand in her own, the both of them walking down the halls for any sign of her momma. After a while she almost believed that her uncle was lost before she saw the door into their shared room, freezing in place when she finally caught sight of the door and it's handle. She could tell that her eyes were blown wide, her skin paling a few shades at the sight of blood on the door handle. Feeling the hand move from her hand to her shoulder, she watched her uncle move to the door silently, using his gloved left hand to grip the blood covered knob and open the door silently.

The moment she entered the room she was both terrified and calm, the latter because she could see her momma laying on his side in bed, thankfully sleeping. She could feel her legs shaking though, able to see the bloody bandages that he wore around his arm and chest from the door. She took steps towards him, leaving her boots by the door in an effort to not be heard, though it didn't seem to make a difference as he didn't even shift in his sleep when the door closed itself. Pacing around the bed, she counted the bloody patches that she saw, eyebrows knit together in worry as she noticed that it was all fresh. She practically grabbed her uncle's wrist once he came back from checking the bathroom and refilling the empty glass of water, pulling him into her room and closing the door silently.

"Uncle Allen?" She managed to climb onto her bed before she started talking, pulling her knees up under her chin.

"Yes Isobel?" Glancing up a little as she felt her uncle sit on the side of her bed, she could barely see him behind her bangs.

"You know a lot about the second exorcist program, right?" She couldn't miss the flinch that she saw, nor the grimace that covered her uncle's face.

"Yes I do, I know quite a bit about that. Why do you ask?" She couldn't help the tears that started collecting in the corners of her eyes, threatening to overflow from her eyes.

"Momma's still bleeding, is he dying?"

xxx

He didn't know how long he had been asleep, but the point that the lamps had been lit meant that Isobel had come back to the room at some point, though he was a little taken back by how he hadn't heard her come in or walking around the room when she had. Picking up the glass of water from the bedside table, he could have sworn that he had finished it off earlier. And that's when he finally noticed the golden golem sitting on the side table, obviously watching him before it flew into Isobel's room, the door open just a gap. Narrowing his eyes, he stood up from the bed, feeling the room swim a little around him before he just sat back down.

"Momma?" Glancing back over to the door, he could see the smaller girl in the doorway to her bedroom, her hair in two braids instead of their usual pigtails. He could easily blame that on the beansprout that he could barely see behind her as she came closer.

"I'm back, Iso. Were you alright while I was gone?" He could see that she wanted to say something, but he didn't have any idea what it could be. He would just have to wait for her to say it, especially when her nod in response to his question didn't seem to relax her. Maybe it was because he had been asleep?

"You're still bleeding." Those three words had him freezing up, glancing down to his bandages. She was right, he was still bleeding, the bandages needed to be changed again even. It took a few minutes for the three of them to get situated on the bed, able to feel as his bandages were removed and the still open wounds were looked at. He had watched as Timcanpy took the used bandages into the bathroom, not wanting to think about how the golem would've tried to eat the fabric strips.

"Why didn't you go to the infirmary for these? They need stitches since they're so deep." Hearing the words he looked away from the beansprout that was looking at the wound on his arm. He could feel Isobel pause in her tracks at the words, the red haired girl having been trying to brush his hair out without pulling on the tangles and snags.

"Not happening, it'll heal on its own." Feeling an ungloved hand grip at his jaw and forcefully turn his head, he glared at the silver eyes that were staring back at him.

"Right, and will that be before or after you pass out from blood loss again? It's obvious that your healing factor isn't working properly right now, you would usually be fully healed in three or four hours maximum, it's been more than eight and these probably look the same as when they were first wrapped up." His eyes widened in shock at the scolding tone he was met with, having forgotten that the other adult has had to handle three kids single-handedly for about a year now. Finally thinking about his predicament, he could feel his heart start to race, practically resonating with his fear of what was happening. Pulling the hand off his jaw, he was practically dead to the world as he tried to remember anything about this happening.

"Twelve years." Blinking as he barely recognized his own voice, he tried to stop his train of thought but found that impossible with the circumstances. It wasn't as hard to imagine as he thought, especially when he remembered how everything was over a decade ago.

"What?" Hearing the word, he looked back up and at the shorter before him, not wanting to believe what he was thinking.

"The last time this sort of thing happened was twelve years ago." He waited the minutes it took for the information to process, watching as those silver eyes widened in shock and disbelief.

"What happened twelve years ago?" Hearing his daughter's voice from behind him, he tried to look back to her for a moment before moving how he sat, motioning for the girl to sit with the two of them. He almost had an urge to hold the eleven year old in his lap, in fact he didn't know what was stopping him. The three of them sat in silence for a moment before he opened his mouth to speak, trying to keep from collapsing at the memories and events that now plagued his mind.

"You happened twelve years ago, well almost. The last time my healing factor noticeably dropped was while I was pregnant with you Isobel. It was the first sign...." Trailing off, he felt as he was pulled into a hug by both of the other two, able to feel tears well up as he felt Timcanpy land on his head. The group of them stayed like that for a bit longer before he felt himself being helped to sitting again, able to feel new bandages being pressed over the open wound on his arm.

"Well there's no way to know what is actually happening without trying to figure it out, worst case scenario it not being that. Why don't we all head to the infirmary to get those wounds stitched up and we can ask about it while we're there. How about it, Bakanda?" Narrowing his eyes at the play on his name, he nodded silently, watching as Isobel grabbed his cardigan and tossed it over to them before she grabbed her boots to put on.

The walk to the infirmary wasn't too long, though with the way his arms were being held and how the three of them were walking caused some stares. He usually didn't care what other people thought of him, but he could practically tell that all of them thought he was being dragged to the infirmary against his will. He really couldn't blame those who thought that though. Getting into the infirmary, he was the one to stop one of the nurses that were standing to the side of the room, mentioning as softly as possible his wounds and the worrying chance of two completely different things causing them not to heal. He was thankful that the three of them were taken into a separate room, even if he would rather not be there in the first place. He was glad that the only needle used was to stitch him up, the blood from his wounds being collected instead since he was already losing so much. He barely heard the mention of him being told to rest for a while and to drink plenty of fluids as the stitches were covered, but he wasn't really paying attention to anything until he was already back in bed, able to feel as Isobel held onto his right arm as they both drifted off to sleep.

xxx

"Ami! Stop trying to stab your brother with your fork!" Blinking as he glanced to the dark haired girl that was being scolded, he took another sip of his tea, trying not to look as amused as he was seeing the beansprout fight with his daughter over how rude it was to jab Kyō with an eating utensil, as if jabbing the boy with anything else was more acceptable. He could vaguely remember a time where sitting at the same table as the cursed man was higher on the list of things he disliked than having to handle finders and their moping, but he isn't too put out over how much his tolerance had changed over the years. Getting annoyed with the duo, he set his cup back down, watching as Ryuuji who sat across from him tried to ignore what was happening at the table.

"Just jab her back, see how she likes it." He almost smirked as he watched the six year old stick her tongue out at him, he found it hard to keep himself composed as she squeaked loudly when she was on the receiving end of being jabbed, albeit with the handle of the fork but still. He was about to take his tray and dishes back to the counter when he heard the running steps coming closer to them, stopping just behind him.

"Kanda, Chief Komui wants to see you as soon as possible in his office." For a moment he couldn't think of a reason he would be summoned for, until he remembered that trip to the infirmary from a few days ago. Could this be about what had happened then? Glancing over Isobel's head to the beansprout, he watched the silver hair bounce as he received a nod.

"Isobel you're in charge, make sure Ami doesn't stab anyone else. We'll meet back up in the training rooms." Watching the girl nod, he got up from the table, taking his tray away and waiting another few moments for Allen to follow suit. It wouldn't be smart to bring Isobel with them for this, he had said that he could handle it on his own even, but the beansprout wanted to be there for moral support. He couldn't understand why though.

"There you are Kanda, thank you for coming by as soon as you did. Allen, why are you here? Not that there's a problem with it." Rolling his eyes, he was motioned to sit down, refusing to instead lean his hip up against the side of the sofa. The floor had a few scattered pages littering it, but most of those looked like diagrams and loose drawings. A much better change to how it had been when all of them had been younger.

"He said he wants to be here for moral support, did the results come in? Is that why we're here?" He tried to show disinterest in learning what was happening with himself, even though nobody in the room would believe it for a moment.

"Alright, that's fine. We just got the results from your blood test back from the Asian branch, the system here crashed a few days ago and still isn't fixed, and I figured that you would like to hear the results." Nodding silently at the statement to show that he was only there and agreed to have the test done to know the results, who in their right mind would have a test done for no reason?

He wasn't prepared for the results despite having been trying to get himself ready for either result the past few days.

"It came back positive, you are in fact pregnant Kanda. The approximation for the time of conception is within the last five weeks." His eyes had to have been wide in shock, and how he couldn't keep his mind on the words or hear the ones after them showed how poorly the information hit him. He's pregnant again, there's a baby of some state inside his body and they're practically growing every second.

He's pregnant with his dead husband's second child. He'd be doing it completely alone this time.

Feeling arms wrap around his torso from behind, he recognized the solidity and stiffness of the beansprout's left arm. He could feel himself calm down after a few more moments, finally getting it through his head that he wasn't alone. He has Isobel still, and Allen would probably try to help him like the idiot had done many times before.

"Now for the decision on your status. Since it wasn't very smart to keep you on the active duty list last time you are being given a year, the rest of your term as well as enough time after to get used to the child before sending you on short missions. More can be figured out as time and your condition progresses." Nodding again to show that he both heard and understood he figured that he could use the time to help train and watch the current four children at headquarters. At least while he has the ability to. "And Allen, as you seem to be the most suited to help him through this, you'll be given shorter missions periodically for the foreseeable future, most often sent through the ark to assist other missions if needed." Now that wasn't expected, but it wasn't like he wanted to complain about it. At least now he didn't need to handle the sprout's gremlin daughter alone constantly and he'd have the ability to relax.

"I understand, thank you Komui." Hearing the voice from behind him, he felt himself being released from the previous hug as the both of them were dismissed from the room. The walk to the training rooms was almost completely silent, and for once he hated it. Getting into the room, he could see Isobel going at it with Ryuuji, the other two kids sitting to the side watching. The moment she saw him, he watched his daughter quickly take the boy down instead of prolonging the spar. It seemed like the group of them split after that moment, himself and Isobel moving to the opposite side of the room as the beansprout and his kids. Sitting down on the steps and waiting for the girl to follow, he tried to get his words together as well as he could to get the news across.

"Isobel, you're going to be a big sister." He was almost knocked over by the sheer force of the hug he was given, able to feel the girl cling to him for a few moments. It was big news for the both of them, and he was glad that the girl accepted it freely. After a bit he moved back to the other side of the room, meaning to meditate but getting distracted by the group of five that were sparring in the center of the room. It wasn't long before Kyō came over to him, and he didn't mind it when the small boy fell asleep against his leg. Maybe this would turn out alright.


	16. Building from the Ashes [Semi-Canon]

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Both in Allen's POV, start of some mutual healing
> 
> Docs title: Gay idiots  
> Sections: 1 and 2 of 5
> 
> Part 2/4

Stepping down from the ark gate he had just gotten back through, he was careful as he brushed his bangs back from his face, planning to remind himself to get help with cutting his hair again. Waving to some of the finders that were preparing to head out on a separate mission, he handed his mission report off to Reever as soon as he saw the man before heading down one of the halls. It'd take him a bit to find the five again, even if he had an idea of where they were. Chewing on his tongue for a moment while he untied the ribbon that had been holding his hair back, he did his best to tie it back up again without pulling at the silver locks, backtracking a few steps when he had started past the lounge, having barely seen the long black hair from the edge of his vision. Glancing into the room fully, he couldn't help his soft chuckle as he saw all four kids fast asleep on the couches. Entering the room, he tried to keep from waking any of the kids, his eyes softening as he finally saw where his youngest son was.

"You're back." Hearing the two soft words, he glanced over to Kanda, watching as the elder man put his book down, able to see as pale fingers carefully played with light brown hair. Nodding to answer the statement silently, he felt his cheeks flush brightly, hoping that the other wouldn't be able to tell.

He's known that he had feelings for Kanda for months now, though he usually tried to brush them off as wanting to be with and help the other since the both of them lost their husbands. He knew he didn't want to act on any of his thoughts, the fear that he'd destroy their current relationship telling him to wait and know the other's feelings for sure before acting on his own. He mindlessly tugged at the sleeves of his uniform jacket, surprised when he didn't jump nor flinch as his left wrist was grabbed.

Especially when his wrist being grabbed turned into soft lips pressing against his cheek.

Blinking silently as he was let go of, he tried to figure out what was meant behind the action, searching those midnight blue eyes for an explanation, though he was given a hint by the pale color that now dusted across those pale cheeks. Breaking out into a grin, he picked up and moved the book before taking its spot on the couch.

"What was that about? Not that I didn't like it, but I surely didn't expect it." He could watch as Kanda looked away from him, himself briefly glancing at the other three kids who laid asleep on the other pieces of furniture. He could never understand how both kids could sleep when Isobel's red hair was practically covering both her and Ryuuji's faces, but it's been happening for years.

"Right, as if the look on your face didn't mean you were thinking about kissing me. You're too easy to read, sprout." Feeling his face flush warmer, he glanced back to the thirty-two year old that sat next to him. Oh, so he was found out. So much for trying to hide his feelings.

"I didn't realize I was being so obvious, I wish someone would have told me." He almost looked away again, but couldn't bring himself to do it as he saw the other relax beside him, watching as Kanda's free hand finally settled against the top of his stomach. The other was a bit bigger this time around, but he wouldn't say that to his face.

"You being so obvious is how I could figure it out. Your kids helped with that too, though it took a bit longer for me to notice it." Blinking a few times, he was a little confused by the statement. What had his kids been doing while he was off on missions?

"If Ami said something weird again or taught someone how to set water on fire I'm going to give my uncle some words. She's already chaotic enough as is, I don't need her setting the oceans on fire." He wasn't prepared to hear the soft bout of laughter to his right, but it was somewhat comforting to hear.

"No, nothing so drastic, she actually didn't set anything on fire while you were gone this time. Actually, all three of them started calling me 'dad', or at least I've only recently noticed it." Blinking at the words, he couldn't help but smile at what he was just told. It felt nice to know that his three were finding some form of normalcy after everything that had happened. "I've also noticed how careful you are around me. You don't really need to be though, at least not as much as you are." He could feel his face heat up again as Kanda finally looked at him, glancing away for a moment. The two of them sat in comfortable silence for a bit, watching as the four children slept soundly. Movement caught his eye after a bit longer, glancing over to see the other's hand smoothing over the bunched up fabric. He didn't realize that he had been caught watching so quickly.

"She's moving around a bit more than usual. If it keeps up either Kyō will wake up or I'll need to use the bathroom again." He bit his tongue to keep from laughing at the annoyed tone, already knowing that the former would happen either way if he didn't pick up his younger son from where the boy lay against the other. Being careful and making sure that the other saw his movements, he placed both of his hands against the more pronounced bump, left hand ungloved for once as he felt the baby kick at both of his hands a few times before calming down some. It was a bit odd in his eyes how the little one seemed to calm down at his touch, especially when he's been told that nobody else has been able to do it. Not that Kanda let many people feel the baby in the first place, he didn't enjoy being touched like that most of the time.

"Is that better? I can still feel movement but there's much less kicks that  _ I _ can tell." Seeing the nod, he couldn't help his growing smile, moving his fingers lightly against the fabric as he felt some still shifting movements.

"Much better, she must've been getting fussy with how quiet we were being." Laughing a little at the words, he glanced around to make sure that the other four kids were still fast asleep, but he didn't need to worry. Fixing how he sat so it wouldn't be too awkward having his hands on the other, he almost didn't notice the hand on his shoulder for a moment. Glancing up again as he settled in his spot, he would later lie that he hadn't seen the other's cheeks take on a light blush, if only for Kanda's pride.

"Is there something wrong? Do you need me to move Kyō so you can get up?" Watching as Kanda shook his head at the question, he felt as a hand was placed on top of his left hand, almost pulling it away in shock and embarrassment.

"No, just listen, stop trying to move your hand away too. I wouldn't mind being in a relationship with you as long as we take it slow. I'm still not over what happened, but who says I'll ever be." Blinking rapidly for a few moments, he moved his right hand from where it was resting, using the flesh limb to cup against Kanda's cheek as he pulled the taller into a kiss.

"We can go as slow as you want to, I just want to be able to kiss you without completely screwing with your emotions." He was glad to feel the small smile against his lips, able to let those fearful walls down without consequence finally.

####  xxx

"Are you excited to be a dad again, Allen?" He nearly dropped his fork at the question, caught off guard by it for the moment. It was late but the group of them had just gotten back from a mission, so they were all eating dinner before they headed to bed.

"Oh no, I'm not the baby's dad. I'll help raise her, but it wouldn't be right to say I'm going to be a dad, especially not again since I've never been a dad before." He couldn't help how he scratched at the side of his face in embarrassment. He tried not to pay attention to the odd looks and questioning whispers in his direction.

"I don't get it, you're already acting the part, why not take the title to go along with it?" Collecting his empty dishes, he didn't leave as quickly as he wanted to, if only to answer the confused question. He needed to check on the twins, Isobel and Kanda before he went to bed, and he was already exhausted from his long day. At least he knew his oldest was already in bed most likely, Ryuuji not being expected back from his own mission for a few more days.

"It's not fair to Kanda and Isobel. It would feel wrong to claim Isobel and the baby as my kids without asking their opinion or permission. I just haven't gotten around to asking about it between missions and handling them and the kids. Speaking of, I need to make sure Ami isn't causing trouble." Bidding the rest of the group goodnight, he took his dishes to the counter before heading down the hall, stopping by his room first to make sure he counted two sleeping children, trying not to laugh as he found Timcanpy sitting on Kyō's head. Well there was two accounted for, now for the other two. 

He tried to be as quiet as he could be when he went back out into the hall, getting ready to go check on the other two. At least, that's what he meant to do. He wasn't exactly expecting to run into Isobel in the middle of the hall. The two of them stood in silence for a few moments, himself just trying to process that the twelve year old was there and not in bed. For a moment he thought that something had happened, and his blood felt cold in his veins.

"Isobel? Is something wro-" He felt the air leave his lungs as the girl threw herself at him, cutting his question off. He wrapped his arms around her shoulders for a moment, still a little dazed and very confused.

"Dad." That single word made him freeze in place, eyes wide in shock. Had she been by the dining hall during that conversation? Did she hear what he had said? Feeling the girl's arms wrap around him tighter, he finally found his voice again.

"Iso? Are you sure?" He really didn't know what to say, nor what to ask. Feeling her nod against his torso, he watched as she took a step back from him.

"My daddy's gone and he's not coming back, momma and I know this. But despite how I'm not yours, you still love and treat me like I am. It really means a lot. You are my dad, and I'm really happy that you are even if you don't think you deserve the title. So don't be afraid to call me your daughter." He couldn't help how he collapsed on his knees, so relieved with the words he heard. He felt Isobel, his  _ daughter _ , come closer to hug him again, pulling the girl closer to him. It felt nice to be like this, to finally be free to claim the little girl that he had helped raise from the sidelines her whole life.

"Well I was on my way to say goodnight to you and your mum, but I don't think there's anything stopping you both from joining us in our rooms. Ryuuji is on his mission for a few more days so you can use his bed for now if you want to." The two of them had sat in silence for a few minutes longer before they heard a clock begin chiming for the hour, himself standing from the floor first before he helped Isobel up after him. He was glad to see her nod, his hand still being held as he was pulled the last bit of distance to the room she and Kanda shared. He barely had the chance to knock on the door before the little redhead opened the door, quite obviously startling the man who had been reading in bed.

"There you are, Iso, I was wondering where you were so late. I heard you got back from your mission about two hours ago through the golems, sprout. I thought you prided yourself in eating too fast." Laughing a little, he watched as Isobel ran into her room to grab what she needed for bed as he paced over to Kanda's side of the bed.

"I finished eating about an hour ago, Isobel and I were talking in the hall for a while is all. I wanted to ask you if you wanted to come stay in my room. I already asked Iso, and she's going to stay in Ryuuji's bed." He couldn't help how he scratched at his cheek lightly, waiting patiently for a response. Watching as the book was set down beside the lamp, he was a little startled as he saw arms being reached out to him, understanding after a moment that he was being asked to help Kanda out of bed.

"I told you that we wouldn't mind sharing rooms with you four a few weeks ago. Just know that if anyone is sleeping on the floor it's you." Laughing a little as he helped the other keep his balance, he couldn't help but press a light kiss to Kanda's cheek. He carried the taller's book and change of clothes back to his room, setting the bundle of cloth on top of his dresser as he heard the other settling on the bed. He couldn't help the smile that crossed his face at seeing Isobel hug her parent, gesturing to Ryuuji's room when the preteen looked over to him. He couldn't exactly remember if she remembered which room was the correct one, but he was sure she'd get used to it at some point. Setting the book onto the bedside table by the unlit lamp that sat there, he stood a moment longer before feeling his wrist being taken again, being pulled into a kiss.

"Try getting comfortable, I'll be right back after I tuck the kids in and make sure Tim didn't accidentally smush Kyō." He would've missed the small smile if he had turned to walk away any sooner, vaguely seeing Kanda move to lay on his side in the bed as he went into the connector rooms. Ami and Kyō were still fast asleep, Timcanpy having moved to sit further up the bed from the boy's head. Isobel was still awake though, the girl just about to drift off when he entered the room. He wished her goodnight near silently as he fixed the blanket, pressing a kiss to her head before closing the door behind himself. Changing out of his uniform and slipping into bed as carefully as he could without disturbing Kanda, he sighed softly, moving to wrap his arms around the warm body beside him. Moving the dark hair away for a moment, he was light as he pressed a small kiss to the back of the elder's collar, falling into slumber moments later.

"Hey sprout, come over here for a moment." Raising an eyebrow as he thanked the other adults for helping him bring Isobel's bed into the room she'd be sharing with Ami from now on, he walked over to where Kanda sat in the rocking chair that he's had since he was pregnant with the twins.

"Am I in trouble for something again? Or do you just need help getting up." Smiling a little, he watched the black haired man shake his head a little, glad that it didn't seem like the other wasn't getting after him for the former. The two of them have been sharing a bed for a week now, Timcanpy more than willing to be used as a bed the night before when Ryuuji came back from his mission after two in the morning while everyone else was asleep.

"Isobel told me about your conversation the other night and about what you said in the dining hall." Blinking in confusion at first, he realized when the other was talking about. He opened his mouth to say something, to explain himself, but he wasn't able to get a sound out before the other started talking again. "With how you act whenever there's mention of what's going to happen after she comes, there's only one thing that's stopping you from taking up the role of being the baby's dad, and that's yourself. I can't force you to do anything, let alone be anything, but from how you are with your kids and Iso I don't have any problems with you claiming this one as yours like you're already doing with Isobel."

"But what about…." He trailed off when he started speaking, deciding against finishing his thought when he saw those dark eyes widen in either annoyance at his continued attempts to question the seemingly simple subject or disbelief that he'd suggest something so upsetting even if he didn't finish speaking. He hoped that he didn't upset Kanda too much, not wanting the two of them to have an argument while the other was so far in his term, the baby expected to come in another month. Hearing a soft sigh, he glanced back to the man in the seat, able to see the annoyance and disbelief dripping away. The baby must've started kicking again.

"He's still her father, even if he's no longer here. She'll just have three parents just like the rest of the kids do at this point." He couldn't help but laugh at the words, pacing closer after a moment.

"Alright, you've got me, all three of you do." Setting his hands on the arm rests to hold the chair still, he leaned forward to press a kiss to those dry but soft lips, feeling them move against his for another moment before he heard Kanda make a soft noise. "Are they still kicking?" Kneeling down in front of the seat, he placed his hands against Kanda's hips carefully.

"Oh you know it, she just loves kicking me when I start getting worked up. It's almost like I'm going to have a mind reader for a daughter." Laughing lightly once more, he pulled the hem of the larger shirt up a little before he placed his hands against the warm skin, able to feel the quick kicks and punches against his palms. Moving his fingers in small circles, while being extremely careful with his left hand, he could feel as the little one seemed to calm once again, able to hear the thirty-two year old sigh in light relief.

"Tell me again why you think the baby is a girl, I don't really remember your reasoning from when you told me." Pressing a light kiss to the pale skin in front of him, he tried not to laugh too loud when he felt what he guessed to be a little foot move to kick his mouth.

"Other than how this feels almost exactly the same as when I was having Isobel? What's the word you like using when you catch Ami causing trouble?" He chuckled softly, moving away a little bit to look the other in the eye as he spoke.

"Intuition? Is that the word?" He couldn't help his laugh at the nod he received. "Well I see where you're coming from, don't exactly understand it since the twins screwed me up but I have a feeling you're right."

"Finally someone believes me." Watching the other's cheeks redden a little, he moved to stand up from where he knelt, still keeping his hands in place to make sure the little one didn't interrupt them this time. Smiling at Kanda, he couldn't help but bring their lips together, his right hand moving to hold the side of the man's face, able to feel another hand move to rest over his left hand.


	17. Counting Down [Semi-Canon]

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Forgot this part existed oops  
> Here you go
> 
> Panic attack warning

"How long until the baby comes, dad?" Glancing over to see Ami sitting beside him on the floor of the bedroom, he could feel the silver eyed girl's twin brother fix where he pressed his ear against his middle. It was a lazy day, the five of them sitting on the floor and relaxing until Allen got back from assisting another mission. The other adult had left much earlier in the day, he'd barely been awake when he caught the other changing into uniform. Placing his hand against his middle carefully, he could feel the baby's weight on his hips, himself guessing that she was resting or asleep at the moment.

Thinking back to try answering the girl's question, he realized that it was the first time he had actually tried to remember all the way back, having usually just used the listed approximation that the nurses in the infirmary had listed. He knew that he was thirty-seven weeks along and would be due in another three, so why did he count all the way back? Freezing in place as  _ that _ memory came back to him, he felt his blood run cold, stiffening up under the touch of the four kids. No, why was he remembering that  _ now _ , why couldn't he just forget that battle, that mission. 

Why? Because it was ingrained in his memory. It was the last time the two of them had fought, both with each other and together. He couldn't forget the amount of blood he saw, just trying to clear out the rest of the enemy so he could get the other back to the order. The two of them barely made it back, and the week that followed seemed like hell with all the mixed messages he got. And then the weeks that followed, lasting up until and past today, including the day he was confirmed to being pregnant. Wait, the timing of everything barely lined up. He would've had to already be carrying during that mission, especially since there was no possibility of it happening after with all the injuries they had returned with.

Suddenly his baby's lack of movement terrified him.

"Dad?"

"Momma? What's wrong?" He tried to shake his head, to push the kids away from him to give himself space. He felt his legs pulling back on either side of him, almost as if he was actively trying to curl up and shut the outside world out, just like he had managed to do over twelve years ago while he had been pregnant with Isobel. But this time he didn't have Alma or Lavi to bring him back to the current time and place, to calm him down and tell him everything would be alright.

"Ryuuji, go to the gate and wait for dad to come back. Ask to send a message if he's not expected back soon." He barely tuned out his worried daughter's voice, unable to continue his struggle against the hold the three remaining kids had on him as he heard running footsteps leaving the room. He didn't know how much time had passed without any of them speaking, able to feel as the grips on him loosened up a little. Ami was still on his right, holding his arm in both of hers, Kyō having moved to take Isobel's place on his left. His first daughter had moved to hold him from behind, her long red hair barely falling over his shoulder. Not even the baby kicking again was calming him down at this point. Hearing the door to the room open again, he felt the three kids let go of him carefully, acting as if he'd disappear if they moved too suddenly. His attention wasn't on the room at large, so he didn't notice the four leave the room, but he did notice when a rough and scaley hand touched his arm.

"Try thinking about something else for a moment, you're alright, you're not alone. I may not be great at doing this, but I'm here with you, I'm here and I'm not leaving." He didn't remember when he closed his eyes, but he finally opened them again slowly, lifting his head up a little. He was sure that the other wouldn't have been back till after dinner, but even he could tell that it was only a little after midday from the light in the window. He found himself taking things in slowly, from his rushed breathing to the feeling of thin but warm fingers lightly running against his spine under his shirt. Holding his breath for a moment, he tried to calm it and his quickly beating heart in the hopes it would take his attention. Letting out his breath, he felt his shoulders relax, growing less tense the longer he was being held by the other.

"That's it, you're doing great. You don't need to tell me what happened, but I'll try my best to help you either way." Nodding silently, he pressed his right hand against the side of his middle, trying to get the kicking child to calm down. His left hand had moved to grab Allen's right, feeling the gloved appendage on his shoulder.

"What if something happened to the baby during that battle, what if she's hurt or she doesn't survive?" He heard nothing but silence for a few moments, silently willing his words to have no meaning.

"What makes you think she's hurt? Has she been kicking and moving?" The questions he got in response made him close his mouth, not entirely expecting that form of response.

"I was already pregnant during that battle, I got hurt and injured so many times during that fight and the few I went on after that, what if that caused something to happen."

"Well the good thing is that the baby got your stubbornness, I doubt we'd be having this conversation if it  _ had _ all affected her. And anyway you stopped going on missions the moment it became clear that she existed, much better than either of us were with Isobel and Ryuuji and both of them turned out fine." Blinking at the words, he glanced over to the shorter, catching the calm smile the other had.

"But how can we be sure?" He felt both hands move from where they had been placed on his person, feeling them cup his face.

"Has she been moving and kicking?" Raising an eyebrow at the repeated question, he only barely realized that he hadn't answered it the first time. That still didn't explain why Allen was pushing for it to be answered by him.

"Yeah, she got really active a while ago and hasn't stopped trying to kick me black and blue since. She won't calm down either." Hearing a laugh, he narrowed his eyes in annoyance and confusion, not understanding what was so funny about what he said. "What's so funny, beansprout?"

"The baby is kicking you so much because she's trying to get  _ you _ to calm down. She's trying to tell you that she's okay and that you will be too in the only way she can. You've mentioned that she acts fussy and kicks you when you start getting worked up quite a few times before now." Feeling his jaw being released from the hold it was in, he glanced away for a moment, trying to process the words. He felt soft fabric run against his cheeks after a few moments, having not realized that it had halted the track of tears until just after.

"Thank you, you're right." He let a small smile form over his mouth as he heard that soft laugh again, not fully understanding how the two of them ended up laying on the floor together, the baby calming down finally despite how she was almost squished in the process.

"You said you would think of a name for her, have you decided on one yet?" Humming a little under his breath, he shook his head a little where it rested on the younger's chest.

"Not yet, but I'll think of something by the time she comes. I've been trying to remember anything I've heard or read but it's a slow process." Feeling lips against the top of his head, he felt his shoulder being pushed against.

"I'll help if you want, but I'm pretty sure the bed is much more comfortable to lay on, let alone get up from. Come on, I'll pull you up once I'm standing." Sitting up, he watched the white haired adult hop up from the stiff floor, feeling his wrists being tugged up on as he was helped to his feet.

"Tell Ami that the baby is supposed to come in three weeks, I'm probably going to fall asleep once I lay down." His guess wasn't too far off, but it wasn't too much of a problem, especially when he woke up around dinner to find the four kids laying in bed with him and Allen. Yeah, they'd be alright.


	18. Slowly Healing [Semi-Canon]

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Part 3/4  
> Posting 4 in a bit since I didn't update earlier in the month

"I'm  _ due _ , I hit full term this week." For once he was standing up and pacing the width of the room, both annoyed and confused about his predicament. He had hit forty weeks exactly the night before, and as far as he had known that meant that the baby should have come out by now, at least in his mind.

"I know, I understand that, but I don't see what's got you so aggravated. Babies are almost never on time, either early or late for whatever reason." Pausing in his steps, he pressed his knuckles into his lower spine, unknowing whether the aches came from his pacing around or the heaviness of his child.

"Well nobody told  _ me _ that! I was here thinking that forty weeks was the maximum." Hearing an annoyed groan from the bed, he sent a glare to his boyfriend who sat on the edge of the mattress.

"Yu Kanda please come sit down before you either induce yourself or get a muscle cramp and fall on your ass. Forty weeks is the estimate, most babies are born either a few days before or after their due date, and most of the time it's the baby's choice." He had half a mind to ignore the scolding tone the other used while speaking to him, but Allen  _ did _ make a point sadly. If he fell he'd risk hurting the baby, and that was the last thing he wanted to do. Taking slow steps to the side of the bed, he sat beside the shorter, having half a mind to lay back and stare at the ceiling.

"How do you know? What if something happened." He felt more than saw Allen stand from the bed, watching as the uniform jacket was stripped off and replaced with a button up and vest. He'd never understand how those were considered casual clothes, but it really didn't matter.

"I know from experience, and so do you. Isobel and Ryuuji were both a few days late when they were born, and they were perfectly fine. The only reason you didn't realize it was because you didn't keep track the first time around. Ami and Kyō were three weeks early, a bit dangerous but everything turned out fine in the end other than my being bedridden for a few weeks." He barely saw the other shiver, most likely at the memory, and for a brief moment he forgot why the other was stuck in bed so long. "On that point, I really hope that you don't tear, even if you heal quickly after it, it is not nice. I love Kyō, I swear I do, but I hope I never have another baby with that big of a head."

"So you're saying that I could possibly carry her for much longer than expected?" He felt the bed move again as he was joined again, he was a little glad that he had calmed down this much.

"Until week forty-two, if you don't go into labor before then you'll be induced by a nurse or be operated on to get the baby out. I remember having asked a similar question the first time around out of fear. Worst case scenario would've been an operation for me since I'm a parasite type, but it may be the go-to in other situations. I wouldn't know, I never got that far." He took another glance over at Allen, seeing the hair ribbon held in hand as if the twenty-nine year old had been distracted in the middle of doing something, which wasn't entirely untrue. "But either way I doubt she'll wait that long to come out. You've just got to wait a bit longer to meet her, try letting her come out when she wants to instead of stressing so much." He was silent for another few moments, taking in the information as best as he could before he relaxed. Glancing again from the ribbon to the loose white hair, he barely noticed when the red strip of fabric was handed to him.

"Sprout, what?" Catching a smile as he looked for a reason behind the action, he couldn't help noticing the faint warmth in his cheeks.

"You aren't slick, I saw you staring at my hair. You can do it if you let me pull yours back and out of your face before we go to dinner." Blinking, he was about to turn so he could reach the back of the other's head, grabbing his own hair tie from beside the unlit lamp that sat on the bedside table. "Wait, don't move. I'll kneel on the floor so you can reach better."

Watching silently as the shorter moved to kneel between his legs, he would've had a harder time if the beansprout was any shorter than he is. Using both hands to pull the mid-length hair up off the younger's neck, he tried to pull everything tight without hurting his boyfriend. Using his hair tie to secure the thick white hair, he barely noticed how he started to run his fingers through the high ponytail, it looking much shorter than his own for obvious reasons. Pulling his hands away again, he watched as Allen's right hand moved up to check the tie, as if it would be loose, before the younger stood up from the floor.

"Just, stay there, I'll be behind you in a moment." He was quick to speak up when the other left his area of sight.

"Put a glove on or I'll strangle you." Feeling as forearms rested on his shoulders, he found two gloved hands in his vision, the left poking at his cheek lightly before he nodded once and handed the ribbon over before they disappeared from his sight once again.

"Do you want the front pieces tied up too or should I leave those?" Shrugging at the question, he rested his hands against the top of his middle, already knowing that the baby was resting with how little she was kicking. She seemed to like resting, and he lightly wondered if that would carry over after she was born.

"You're the one doing my hair, just don't cut it." Hearing a laugh, he felt his hair being pulled back, the two clumps being left in their place as the rest was held together. He almost wanted to reach back and smack the other in the leg, but decided against it to maybe keep his hair from being pulled.

"What, do you really believe in those superstitions? I know Lenalee came after me for trying to cut my hair while I was pregnant with my three." Feeling the grip being tightened for a moment, he relaxed more as his hair was released, not trusting in the slightest after those words were spoken.

"No, I don't give a shit about all of that, I just don't like my hair short. It reminds me of when I was ten." Feeling his shoulder being tapped, he grew confused as he tried to figure out what, if anything, the other did, finding the ribbon tied just at the base of his head.

"I thought you would do something more, where'd you even learn this. It doesn't keep hair up in the slightest." Hearing another laugh, he lightly regretted letting Allen take control.

"I said I'd pull it back, not up. Nea taught me how to do it this way a few years ago when I first started growing my hair out again, he said that Mana used to pull his hair back like this before he cut it off. Your hair is  _ much _ longer apparently, I'll tie it up if you want me to." Hearing the words, he tried to hide his emotions. He knew that the younger had managed to get on better terms with his uncle years ago, long after the investigation had been called off for lack of information. He had heard Allen talk about his foster father before, but most often it was only brief mentions of the man. This felt more personal, even if it was more of Nea's memory than his boyfriend's. It still held a deep meaning to the guy. Shaking his head a little, he hid his smile, even with how small it was.

"No, I like it. May be a little troublesome, but it's nice." Hearing and feeling the other get off the bed behind him, he watched as the white gloves were taken off and stuffed into a pants pocket, the cloth only ever being used to keep the joints from getting tangled in anything anymore other than their use on missions. Watching as the mismatched hands reached out to him in an offer to help him up, he gratefully accepted the hands in his own as he was helped up off the bed once again.

"Why don't we head down to the dining hall, I'm sure that the kids and Lenalee are waiting for us by now." He nodded lightly as he got helped with balancing on his feet, not minding that the left hand laced with his right, himself lightly squeezing the rough hand.


	19. Second Bell [Semi-Canon]

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Part 4/4 Suzu arc end  
> See y'all later in the month

"Are you feeling alright? You've barely touched your food." Glancing up from where he was staring at the plate, he set the fork down to the side, figuring that it wasn't the best idea to continue faking it. The seven of them, Lenalee, the kids, Allen and himself were alone at the table, but that didn't mean they were alone in the room. He was glad that the question wasn't asked aloud, he didn't want the attention on himself.

"I'm not actually hungry right now, in fact I feel a little sick." Keeping his voice low, he closed his eyes for a moment, briefly wondering if that would help him even a little. He had no such luck, but at least it didn't make anything worse. Feeling a warm hand against his front, he glanced to the side briefly, able to easily see the worry behind the smile. He hated that mask, but he could appreciate it enough when it was used to help him.

"Want me to help you back to the room to lay down?" Shaking his head a little, he didn't want to worry the other five. 

"Maybe a little later, I'll stick around here for a bit longer." Picking up his cup, he turned to face away from his boyfriend, finding violet eyes staring back at him. She couldn't have been able to hear them could she? Well, it wasn't as if he actually cared, he just didn't want to cause a commotion. He managed to spend the next half hour in a moderately normal fashion, letting Kyō take his plate before the food actually got cold. He spent most of the time listening and following the conversation, helping keep the kids from starting anything with each other.

He regretted drinking so much water while he sat there. Especially when he started feeling dampness against his thigh. He hadn't even realized.

"Help me to the bathroom?" It would have been a bit funny how quickly Allen hopped off the bench to pull him up if he wasn't so embarrassed. He lightly regretted not going back to the room earlier on, if only that meant he would've been in a private area.

It didn't make much of a difference either way, especially when he was helped to stand and felt his pants soak. He couldn't help how he froze, some part of him wanting to believe if he didn't move nobody would notice, but that was just wishful thinking. His face felt warm, embarrassment creeping through his person as he heard the rest of the room move around him.

"Come on, don't get so overwhelmed again, let's just head back to the room to clean up and get you resting." Hearing the softer than normal voice by his ear, he begrudgingly nodded, opening his closed eyes as his arms were taken. From the edge of his vision he could see the kids being moved to another table so they'd be clear of the mess, but he didn't care to continue watching for long.

He hated how much shame he felt for something so accidental.

Thankfully it didn't take too long for the two of them to get back to the room, being helped out of his soaked bottoms and helped to lean against the wall. Pulling his shirt up a bit, he was tempted to just remove it entirely, fully planning to lay down and try to sleep once he was helped with cleaning up. Hearing the tap in the bathroom run for a few moments, he spent the time alone acutely aware of the baby's position, trying not to shift on his feet too much.

"I'm glad that you've calmed down quicker, I don't know what I could've done to get you out of a stupor again. I'm right here and the towel is warmer this time, so stay still and tell me if you need me to stop for a moment." Keeping quiet, he tapped one of his hands against his outer thigh to show that he had heard, feeling the warm cloth start wiping up from his ankle. He had to ask Allen to stop midway through, trying to suppress the urge to fidget in place when the other had started wiping against the backs of his knees. He couldn't help his sigh in relief as the beansprout moved higher up, his eyes widening within a moment after that. Grabbing at the adjacent wall and a piece of furniture he couldn't identify in the moment as he flinched in shock at the odd feeling, he felt the younger's hands move away from him.

"What the hell did you just do, it felt so weird." Glancing down, he watched a white mop of hair enter his vision, silver eyes glancing at him in confusion and worry.

"I was just trying to wipe you down, BaKanda. Spread your legs again so I can see if there's something that'll explain that feeling you just had." Feeling a warm hand against his inner thigh, he was careful as he moved his legs apart more, trying to keep what balance he had. Feeling the odd feeling once again, he tried to hold as still as possible, unable to keep himself from gasping softly. Feeling the hands retract themselves from his legs and lower half, he heard the dresser drawer being pulled open for a moment.

"Are you in  _ any _ pain?" Feeling his left leg being carefully lifted, he felt the fabric of a pair of night pants being wrapped around his ankle.

"No, nothing hurts. What's going on, why did you ask?" He wasn't expecting the question, but he could feel the anxiety raise in him.

"Are you absolutely sure?" Narrowing his eyes at the other questioning his response, he almost didn't let his right foot be lifted from the floor. Again he felt the fabric wrap around his ankle.

"Yes I'm sure, I would've said something about being in pain since I'm  _ a week overdue _ ." Watching as Allen stood from where he knelt on the floor in front of him, he quickly shut his mouth at the look he was given, wordlessly being told that the shorter was being serious.

"You're dilated, I doubt fully but at least most of the way. Hold onto my shoulders while I finish getting your pants on so we can get down to the infirmary." He froze in place at the first two words alone, not paying attention as the pants were pulled onto him securely. Dilated? Didn't that mean that he was in labor, or that the baby would be coming soon? He thought that it would hurt, that he would feel contractions and be able to get the situation through his head. It suddenly made sense why everything happened so fast in the dining hall, that was his water breaking because he was helped with standing up too quickly. But that still didn't explain why he felt no pain, especially when he could remember the hours of torturous contractions he had to go through with Isobel. Feeling his arm being tugged on, he didn't even try to bring his attention back to reality, at least not until he felt his face being cupped.

"Yu, come on, don't dissociate on me now. We need to get to the infirmary, at least to get an idea of what the baby is doing. Are you listening to me?" He couldn't respond, his mind both going a million miles a minute and freezing in one place. Feeling two arms wrap around his torso, he vaguely crept back into reality, being thrown as soon as he heard more words from the twenty-nine year old. "Please, Yu, I can't deliver the baby alone in here, I was almost no help last time and I have no idea what to do if something happens." Blinking quickly, he finally realized the severity of the situation the two of them were now in. The moment it was recognized that he was back to sound mind, he felt his hand being taken, being helped with walking down the winding halls of the order to the infirmary. He hated how slow he was, unable to pick up his pace all because of the patiently waiting baby in his gut. For all either of them knew he could have the baby in the hall, neither of them knowing how far he had progressed.

He'd thank the god he hated later for that not happening, he didn't know how he'd survive the ordeal both physically and emotionally otherwise.

As soon as they got into the infirmary he felt his attention drift from his surroundings, paying more mind to his squirming baby than his boyfriend speaking to a nurse in his stead. Being carefully led past both occupied and unoccupied cots and through a door leading to a private room, he was only able to be pulled back to the present once he heard the door close. He wasn't much help in getting stripped down, nor in getting onto the cot, but at least those were the last of the physically taxing actions he needed to do before his younger daughter made an appearance. Staying sitting up for a few moments, he felt gloved hands tugging his hair carefully, pulling the long pieces up into a loose bun before he was helped with laying back again, a sheet being pulled over his hips. At least he was getting some form of decency for now.

Hearing the door to the room open, he jumped a little in shock at seeing the other being knocked on his ass, and then again as he felt cold hands on his leg. He didn't know where his attention should go for a moment, but he'd rather not be paying attention while he was being checked.

"What was that for Tim?! You didn't need to knock me off my feet like that." It took the shorter a few moments before the guy could stand again, golden colored golem sitting on his head. Feeling the probing start against his lower half, he reached for a hand after a moment, discomfort hitting hard as he was checked. Maybe, just maybe it wouldn't be so bad if he was actually in pain. Then again he wouldn't know.

"Well you're mostly dilated and your water has broken so it shouldn't be too much longer. If you start feeling  _ any _ pressure call for someone. I'll leave you two be for now." Sighing softly at the nurse pulling the cover back over him, he laid his head back. At least that part was over. Tracing his free hand against his middle, he was glad that his position wasn't as taxing on the rest of his body as it had been any day previous.

"Hey, Tim wants to know if you'd be alright with seeing the kids and Lenalee before the baby comes. Apparently they've been worried about us since we weren't in the room when they got back." Nodding silently, he wasn't expecting the golem's tail to wipe against the side of his face, watching as the golden terror practically flew from the room. The two of them spent a few minutes in comfortable silence, himself feeling as a second hand rested against his middle. He didn't believe that it'd be so calm before he had his second child, but at least it looked like there'd be less chance for something to happen.

"Momma?" Glancing to the door again, he saw the four kids, Lenalee standing behind them and Timcanpy sitting on Isobel's head between her pigtails. Nodding silently, he watched the six enter the room, able to hear as Lenalee closed the door.

"Everything is alright, it's just that the baby will be here soon." He was practically attacked with hugs from the four, and he'd refuse to acknowledge the gasp he made at the quick movements. Being careful so he wouldn't fall off the cot, that would cause multiple problems for all of them, he did his best to hug the four back. Doing his best to relax again, he just continued to listen to any part of the conversation he could pay attention to. At least until he felt slight shifting and a bit of pressure.

He didn't even need to speak up and say the words, the moment he glanced over to the beansprout the kids were being ushered out of the room, able to hear the young woman with them say she'll send a nurse their way. He didn't enjoy the pressure one bit, though he tried not to squirm. Feeling mismatched hands trace lightly against his skin while they tried to wait for someone to come help him, he couldn't help his soft noises at feeling his child fixing their position and trying to start through him. His first few pushes were haphazard, the lack of pain not helping him with the timing of each, but that didn't stop him from feeling as the head started moving. It felt weird.

"Oh you've already started! Don't hold for too long or you'll run out of energy." Nodding blearily, he felt the sheet being moved as he took a quick break, able to watch as the nurse grabbed tools while he was trying to catch his breath. Feeling his right leg being pulled back carefully as he pushed again, he groaned softly in discomfort as he felt what he guessed was the head starting to crown. It burned and nearly made him wish that the baby had stayed put for another week to put this off for longer.

"Go slow now, the head is coming now. I can see they've got your hair." His eyes widened in startled surprise at what the woman said, himself taking a few moments longer before pushing again. His reaction wasn't at the warning of the head coming, no it was what else the nurse had said, the words hammering in the reality that he was so close to finally meeting his second child.

Getting the head out was a long process from his point of view, feeling like hours but lasting barely minutes. If he wasn't so preoccupied he would've laughed at the queasy expression that Allen wore after glancing to see the baby. It was deserved for looking there in the first place. The shoulders started out alright, at least that's what he could guess before they stopped moving entirely. He struggled to keep air in his lungs between each of his attempts to get the body free of him, feeling like he was working both for and against himself at the same time.

"The shoulders are stuck, just calm down for a moment and breathe so I can work." Feeling his hand being squeezed, he tried to focus on that and the loose clumps of his hair being pulled behind his ears, closing his eyes as he felt lips against his own. Groaning lowly at feeling one of the shoulders being pressed back into him, he felt his toes curl at the uncomfortable feeling. He did not like that. Pushing on the next cue he was given, he felt like he was a little more vocal in his actions, freely groaning as he felt the first shoulder slip out, able to feel the second already peeping through. Giving a final shove, he peeked one eye open to watch the nurse hold up the sobbing baby girl. Spending a few moments to catch his breath once again, he silently watched as the woman did her best to wipe most of the sticky fluid from his newborn daughter before attention was shifted to the man at his side.

"Would you like to cut the cord and hand her over while I take information down and start cleaning up?" He heard the starts of a few protests from the idiot, removing the hand from his so he could shove the twenty-nine year old toward the end of the cot.

"Go on, stop trying to put distance between the two of you before I shove my foot up your ass." Hearing the laugh from the whitette, he did his best to pay full attention as it took both Allen and the nurse to tie the cord off before his boyfriend severed it. Watching as a towel was thrown at the shorter, he would've laughed if his muscles weren't screaming at him for the work they were forced through. Watching as the sobbing baby was set on the towel, he wasn't the only one to stop stiff in astonishment at how she nearly instantly calmed down once the beansprout was holding her.

"I guess she recognizes me, but I can think of someone else she would prefer to be held by." Hearing a laugh, he heard the dark haired newborn start fussing when she was moved to be handed off, but she quieted down quickly and even tried to cling to him once he had her. The two of them sat in silence for a few moments, just watching the calm newborn rest against him.

"So, did you think of a name for her?" Glancing up for a moment, he was lost for a short time before he remembered the conversation from the previous month. That's right, he told the other that he'd think of something before she was born. Well, he had planned to at least. Glancing back to his daughter, he tried to remember any name he's heard vetoing a few instantly after thinking of them. And then he remembered.

_ "I was going to suggest Isobel or Ailís for parts of a name if the baby is a girl, but I like the sounds of Suzu and Hikari, maybe not together but they're really nice. Haven't thought of anything if the baby is a boy though." _

_ "What do those names mean?" _

_ "Isobel means beautiful or pledged to God, though I was only really thinking about the first meaning originally. Ailís is of nobility, it would probably fit more as a middle name. I recognize Hikari, it means Light in Japanese right?" _

_ "It does, and Suzu means bell. Isn't Isobel English?" _

_ "How funny, we both thought of bells technically. Isabel is English, but Isobel is Scottish, just like Ailís." _

_ "I'm pretty sure you're not going to tell me why they're both Scottish names, but I like them." _

_ "What?" _

_ "I said I like both of those, maybe not together but you're not absolute shit at naming." _

_ "I'll take that as a compliment, Yu~." _

_ "Call me that again and you're sleeping in the lounge." _

"Suzu Ailís." He hadn't noticed he had spoken the name aloud at first, blinking after a few moments only to see silver eyes staring back at him. He didn't know how long he had been out of it with the memory, but glancing back down to the slightly messy baby against his chest he knew it was for good reason.

"What was that? I thought you got lost on me for a few minutes there only to hear you mumble something." Rolling his eyes at the words, he lightly prodded at one tiny hand, his index finger being grabbed by the tiny fingers.

"Her name, I remembered it finally. Suzu Ailís, bell of nobility." Watching the silver eyes blink at him for a moment, he was glad to see the smile he was given.

"It's beautiful. Now, listen to the nurse, I need to grab clothes for you both. Lenalee took the ones you came here in apparently. I'll be right back, but until then no fighting with the nurse." Nodding silently, he watched as Allen left the room, his attention being moved to the woman still in the room. He did his best to answer her questions, and couldn't help how flustered he got when told that he should've already started feeding baby Suzu. After that ordeal he handed her off, already knowing that the woman was waiting to give the baby her first check up. The beansprout returned in the middle of it, holding two sets of clothes, the smaller of which was set to the side while he was being helped with getting dressed. The moment Suzu had been born he had started healing again, so there was no blood any longer, but that didn't mean that he wasn't sore still. That would last a few days at the least if he remembered right. It didn't help that the clothes that were grabbed fit oddly on him, but it didn't matter either way, they'd just be a little big on him. He was given one more check over while Allen dressed Suzu almost too carefully, the small girl squirming a little on the second towel that would hopefully keep her from getting too cold against the table being used.

"You should come by tomorrow to make sure everything is alright, and with that I bid you three goodnight." Watching the nurse leave the room, he sighed softly as he watched his boyfriend come over to him, handing the dressed Suzu over carefully. He was confused a little at first until he realized how shaky he was going to be on his legs. Being helped to stand from the cot, he was embarrassed how quickly he reached to grab ahold of Allen's shoulder so he'd stay standing.

"I had a feeling that you'd have a hard time standing, at least I have two hands to help you with." He clicked his tongue at the words, not thinking too highly of his ability to get back to the room and into bed in his current position.

"Oh shut up, I feel like my organs are going to fall out of me. I just want to go to sleep and forget these feelings." He huffed at the laugh he got in response, feeling an arm wrap around his waist, spurring him to set some of his weight on the shorter. It'd be hilarious if he hadn't seen how Allen worked out on the daily while the two of them kept an eye on the kids. The kid could carry him easily on their first mission, himself eighteen and the younger fifteen, so he had no doubt that Allen could just pick him up. He was just glad that counted as a last case scenario, even if it was just his pride talking.

The trip back to the room could've taken longer than their trip in the opposite direction a few hours earlier, but it wasn't like the two of them were in a hurry this time. Sitting on his side of the bed, he tried not to hiss in pain as his hips ached. Untying his hair from how it was tied up, he fixed how he was positioned on the bed, laying back against a few pillows as he waited for the other to get changed and come join him. Hearing one of the doors open, the other quickly followed as he heard shouts that made him flinch, Suzu starting to whine in his arms.

"Momma! You're back!" He wasn't the only one to try shushing the four kids, but he was the least helpful with that at the same time, his attention divided between the newborn he held and how close the four got to him. He visibly flinched when he felt smaller legs and knees hit up against his hip and side, having to hold his breath so he wouldn't cry out. Watching as Allen Pulled Ami back from where she kept trying to get too close to him as he laid down on the bed, he almost appreciated how Ryuuji managed to pull both Kyō and Isobel back.

"You four need to keep quiet and be careful, both he and your baby sister are very tired and he's really sore." In the moderate low noise of the room he was glad he could calm the soft fussing, adjusting his hold on Suzu so the four kids and Lenalee could see. Hearing the soft astonishment in the room, he couldn't stop himself from pressing a small kiss to the top of Suzu's head.

"What's her name? Oh she is just adorable." He couldn't help his little smile, especially when he fixed his hold so he could see his daughter's peaceful expression. Now that he thought about it, he hasn't seen her eyes yet.

"Suzu Ailís Kanda. According to the nurse she's a little big but that's probably just because she stayed put for an extra week." Hearing Allen speak up for him, he was nearly worried when he saw her face scrunch up, at least until she started opening her eyes.

He was glad that nobody would comment on how he cried, especially when he saw those emerald green eyes staring back at him.

The group of them stayed like that for a while until the kids were sent back to bed. Feeling his face being wiped off, he couldn't help but smile into the kiss he was given. He had apparently cried the entire time his daughter's eyes were open, the four hour old fast asleep in his arms as he was guided into laying down, setting Suzu down between himself and Allen in the bed, one hand on top of her to keep the girl from accidentally rolling and getting hurt. In a few hours the sun would be rising to start a nice spring day, but the three of them would miss most of it sleeping.

He really did have two bells.


	20. Snow Baby [Modern]

"I'm going to try clearing the front walk before the snow gets too bad, can you call me back inside in about half an hour?" Glancing around the back of the couch to see Alma pulling gloves and boots on, he moved to sit up a little from how he was laying on his side.

"I'll try, make sure to wear your scarf properly this time though." Hearing a short laugh from the older adult, he tried to relax again, fixing the pillow that he had brought out from their bedroom. He was laying on the couch keeping an eye on the disaster duo that were his eighteen month old daughter and son who were thankfully down for a nap for now. Glancing down to his middle as he felt a few soft nudges, he pulled the sweater up a little to see if he could catch sight of the shifting little girl through the pale skin. Catching sight of the overdue child pressing her foot up towards him, he was very gentle as he lightly traced one of his fingers over the small bump that was made. It was uncomfortable when she did press like that, but it was something he could handle until the little one got fussy. He wasn't fully paying attention to the clock, instead just trying to keep from falling asleep when he heard the front door open again. Did he forget to call Alma back inside after half an hour?

"Put your wet clothes on top of the washer and get something dry on to wear. I can't believe the driver made you walk from the end of the street." Hearing his husband from by the front door, he moved to sit up as carefully as he could so he wouldn't shift his weight oddly and give himself a cramp, glancing over the back of the couch to catch sight of their nearly six year old son running down the hall in soaked clothes minus sneakers. Those sat by the front door covered in snow he found out after pushing himself up off the couch.

"Did I miss the time to call you back in? I'm sorry." Hearing a soft laugh as he moved to the linen closet to grab towels and blankets for the two, he rose an eyebrow at the light expression the other had.

"It hasn't even been twenty minutes, Allen, don't worry. Apparently the snowstorm is supposed to be getting worse in the next few hours so they sent the kids home early so they wouldn't be stuck at the school. Doesn't explain why the bus driver dropped a group of elementary school children off nearly two blocks away but I'll question that later on." Sighing softly in mild relief, glad that he hadn't left Alma outside for over an hour by accident, he watched as Ryuuji came back down the hallway, clothes dry but hair soaked.

"Hold still while I dry your hair, Ryuu, we don't want you getting sick alright?" Smiling at the nod he got, he barely saw as Alma went back outside while he was getting the young boy dry.

"Mummy? Read to me?" Blinking a few times, he held the used towel in his right hand as his left hand sat on top of his stomach, able to tell that the infant had started to rest thankfully.

"Of course. Why don't you grab a book and one of your blankets while I start the wash?" Watching as the black haired boy ran back down the hallway to grab what he was told, he shook his head lightly, glad to see his eldest son so excited. Getting the wet clothes and towel into the wash, he pressed his knuckles into the arch of his spine, his back aching despite how he hadn't been standing for even fifteen minutes. Hearing three voices from the living room as he took careful steps towards them, he caught the three awake and alert, Ryuuji trying to pull his little brother Kyō up onto the couch while their sister Ami was toddling around trying to find a way to get up there herself he guessed. Watching the trio catch onto being watched, he jumped a little in startled shock as Ryuuji let go of his brother to wave at him, the youngest of the trio starting to cry upon landing back on the floor.

"Mummy look! Ami and Kyō woke up! Can they listen to the story too?" He had to hold back his sigh in light annoyance, moving to sit on the floor instead of the couch so he wouldn't need to handle any minor squabbles between his three children. He didn't particularly enjoy sitting on the floor, especially this late in his term, but he didn't know how else he'd be able to handle story time at the moment.

"Of course they can, come sit with me on the floor. Kyō, come here sweetheart, you're alright." Letting the group of them get settled before he opened the book he had been handed, he couldn't help his smile as his elder son attempted to drape his blanket over the four of them, both boys curling up against his sides. He had seen Ami on the other side of Kyō before he opened the book, but he really should've been keeping his attention on her as he read. Feeling both Ryuuji and Kyō jump away from him a little too fast as well as the chill of snow splashing against his hands and face, he was quick to toss the book to the side before doing his best to get off the floor. There he saw Ami standing on the couch cushions, hands red from holding chunks of snow without gloves.

"Ami Yuuya Karma why did you do that?! Go to time out, right now." He still wasn't balanced from standing when he pointed to the corner of the room they had designated as 'time out', knowing that he needed to work past the dizziness to make sure that his sons were alright after being hit, especially after seeing large chunks still together on the living room floor that were packed pretty tightly. That had to have hurt. "Where did she get the both of you?" Kneeling back down on the floor to check the backs of both boys' heads, he felt his back begin to flare up again at his change in position. After making sure that neither were bleeding or hurt too badly, he gladly sent Ryuuji to grab towels to soak up the melting snow, carrying a still whining Kyō to the kitchen to try soothing the bump the toddler now had. He knew he shouldn't have picked the boy up by himself, but it wasn't like there was another way to keep the eighteen month old from all out bawling.

"Mummy what do I do with the towels? The floor is dry but now they're wet and cold." Hearing Ryuuji enter the kitchen as he held a warm cloth against the back of Kyō's head, he glanced to his eldest son, relaxing as he knew that the nearly six year old was doing his best to be helpful.

"Can you put them with the laundry please? I'll start another batch of laundry in a little bit." Watching the black haired child nod enthusiastically before running down the hall, he turned his attention back to the boy on the counter, grabbing the auburn haired boy's hand for a few moments. "Can you hold it to where it hurts for a few moments please? I'm going to move you to the couch so I can talk to your sister." Watching as the teary eyed boy nodded at his question, he helped Kyō get situated with the warm cloth before lifting him from the counter and back into the other room. It took another half hour for him to get Ami to apologize to her brothers, himself letting her out of the corner as long as she wouldn't cause any more trouble.

It wasn't like she listened or went by her word, which led to the black haired girl being put back in the corner with a timer after trying to shove her twin brother off the couch twice. Hearing the front door open, he glanced over the top of the couch to catch sight of Alma coming back inside and taking his hat, gloves and coat off by the door.

"I got as much as I was able to off the driveway, but it doesn't look like the snow is going to be slowing down anytime soon." Sighing softly at the words, he almost dreaded the night ahead of them. Feeling his younger son shift beside him, he welcomed the minor distraction from the point that they'd be stuck at home for at least the next day or so. Closing his eyes for a brief moment as he traced his fingers against his middle, he smiled dimly as he felt a few more kicks and shifts from his unborn daughter, hearing Kyō giggle a little from where the boy had his ear pressed against his stomach. It was an adorable attempt that the young boy made at hearing the baby. Flinching a little as he felt cold lips press against his forehead and the top of his head, he tilted his head back to stick his tongue out at Alma.

"In that case we'll just need to hope for the best right? Go get warmed up." Hearing a soft laugh, he turned his attention back to his younger son as his husband left the room. He didn't realize that he had drifted off on the couch until he heard a timer go off in the other room, finding a blanket over himself and none of his kids in sight. Well that was worrisome, at least until he heard Alma and Ryuuji in the kitchen. Well that accounted for two of the other four people in the household, now if only he could see where the two toddlers were. Pushing himself up off the couch after moving the blanket onto another cushion, he stretched a little bit as he glanced around the rest of the room, finding the duo looking out the back door at the snow that reached maybe a fifth of the height of the glass.

"Oh! You're awake just in time. Can you help Ryuuji with his math homework? Long division is hard to do while cooking." Laughing softly, he moved to the kitchen to join the other two, believing for a moment that the twins would behave for a while longer.

Was he ever wrong.

Hearing a near scream from the living room not even fifteen minutes later, he nearly fell with how quickly he stood up from the kitchen chair, him and Alma finding Kyō stuck by the mouth to the glass door, Ami now nowhere in sight. Using the back of the couch to help himself onto his knees, he did his best to try calming his youngest down.

"Calm down sweetheart, we'll get you unstuck, just hold on a few more minutes okay? Alma can you grab some hot water and a hand towel please? His tongue is stuck to the glass because it's so cold." Feeling the absolutely distraught eighteen month old calm down slowly, he heard a confirmation from his husband. Being handed both items, he heard Alma mumble something about not being able to leave the toddlers on their own or stuff like this would happen as the other moved to hold the boy still. Holding the hand towel under to try catching the water that would spill in the process, he was careful as he poured the hot water against the window, not wanting to directly burn the small boy with the hot fluid. Watching as the small tongue was freed, he felt himself relax, sighing in relief as the cup and cloth were taken from him. That's when he noticed how uncomfortable his position was, his hips aching heavily with all his weight settled above them.

"Need help up?" Feeling his cheeks redden a little at the question, he nodded lightly as his wrists were taken, being hoisted up from his knees. His wrists were let go of the moment he was standing, warm arms wrapping around his waist after another moment. The two of them stood there for a few moments longer, himself pressing a light kiss to Alma's lips before they separated from each other. He stood in place for a few moments longer as he was left alone in the room, his attention back on the little kicks and punches he was getting from their second daughter. At first he thought she was just being fussy again, and he almost brushed it off as that as he walked into the kitchen at an off-kilter pace. He only realized that his assumption wasn't true while he was setting the table and getting the dining room ready for dinner with Ryuuji, nearly dropping a glass in light shock as he felt what he definitely could tell was a contraction run up from his tailbone.

So that's what she was trying to warn him about.

"Allen? Are you alright? Let's get you sitting down." Hearing as Alma walked up behind him, he let the other take the fragile cup from his hand as he was helped into a seat. Might as well get the news out now instead of taking his husband by complete surprise later on.

"I think I'm alright for now, but I'm almost certain I just felt a contraction." Mentally willing for the other not to start freaking out, he sighed softly in relief as Alma moved to kneel on the floor in front of him.

"Are you sure that is what you felt?" Letting a small smile cross his face as he felt warm hands press carefully to the front of his middle, he took a breath in.

"I'm pretty sure, even if I've only felt the one so far. I don't believe I'd be getting any false contractions if she's already late on coming out. I'll do my best to time between them, but so far I'm sure it'll be at least a few hours if not more before anything happens." Catching as bright blue eyes glanced to the kitchen window, he could see the apprehension cross Alma's face at just the sight of the snow still coming down outside. Moving one of his hands, he was barely able to reach forward enough to run his left hand through the short black hair. "There's still a chance that she can postpone on coming again, but at this point it's her choice when she wants to come." Moving his hand away as Alma moved to stand up, he felt his heart pulse when he felt a light kiss against the top of his stomach, a quick one being pressed to his lips after a moment. He was told to keep sitting in the seat up until dinner around six, making sure that the twins ate their food and behaved as he didn't feel like he could eat without getting sick. After dinner he was helped back to the couch, supposedly to keep the kids occupied with a movie before they were put to bed.

It wasn't as easy as he hoped it would've been, especially when one movie turned into two and suddenly they had three kids under seven who had too much sugar and was reaching too close to half past ten.  _ He _ was sent back to their room once ten thirty hit, obviously overwhelmed by the three kids plus the still occurring contractions that now held steady at roughly fifteen minutes apart. Sitting on the side of the bed after closing the bedroom door, he took a few deep breaths, trying to calm himself down and relax. He is pretty sure that he won't be able to hold the baby from coming until the roads were cleared, he just needed to express that to the other, hopefully without Alma freaking out about the implication.

"You waited this long, I think I can understand why you don't want to wait any longer, but that doesn't mean I enjoy it. This is probably some of the worst timing I've seen though, and I grew up with your great uncle." Laughing a little to himself, he felt a few light taps from his unborn daughter, choking on the sound as he felt another contraction. Those  _ really _ did not feel good. Taking deep breaths, he tried to lay on his side for a bit and try resting, already able to tell that he wouldn't be getting any sleep that night. Hearing the bedroom door open a little later, he was almost too aware that Alma was trying to keep quiet for him. Moving to sit up before the other tried to move his legs up onto the mattress and cover him in the blankets, he caught sight of worry in those bright blue eyes.

"I was hoping you had gotten to sleep." Shaking his head at the statement, he felt the side of the bed dip beside him, moving to lean against Alma's side.

"Well I wish I could fall asleep, but that's not going to happen tonight, at least not until after this little miss comes. Don't freak out, but I'm almost certain that she is coming tonight or in the morning, the gaps between the contractions tell me that much at least." Hearing his husband sigh from beside him, he glanced to the clock on the bedside table. It was a little after midnight now, and from what he could tell the rest of the house was silent.

"I guess there's nothing else we can do but get ready and wait." Nodding briefly, he moved to stand from the bed, hand splayed out on top of his stomach to try helping with his balance. Feeling a hand press against his lower back, he glanced back to where his partner sat on the bed, visibly exhausted from getting the kids to bed. Turning fully to face Alma, he was careful to hold onto the other's shoulders as he leaned in to press a kiss to soft lips.

"I'll go get things from the nursery so we're ready, go ahead and try getting some sleep." Moving to turn and walk away from the other and towards the bedroom door, he felt a hand pulling on his wrist, trying to move him closer to the bed again.

"Let me get the supplies, you should be resting. I don't know why you're trying to do this alone." Holding his sigh, he tugged his arm back enough to move the hand from his wrist to his hand.

"I'm not trying to do this alone, I just know that I won't be able to get any sleep tonight. Someone needs to be awake and alert for when the kids wake up, and there's no way I'll be able to do that if I've been up all night. I'll wake you when she's actually coming, don't worry about missing it because there is no way in hell that I'm going to be giving birth on my own." Hearing a soft chuckle, he let himself be kissed again, first on the lips and then his forehead.

"Alright fine, but I want you to wake me up as soon as your water breaks. And try not to pace too much, we don't want you tripping on the carpet and falling." Nodding in agreement, he watched as Alma got ready for bed without him for a few moments before he left the room, heading down the hall to the nursery to gather anything he could think of that was necessary. He had to keep silent as he paced, not wanting to alert the kids to the fact that he was awake still. 

Moving into the room they had set up for their fourth child roughly five months ago, he had to bite against the inside of his mouth to muffle his groan in pain as another contraction started. It was uncomfortable, and really didn't help his aching back, but it wasn't debilitating yet so he could work with it for now. All he hoped for was that he wouldn't be as messed up as he was both times before. Setting the small bundle of clothes and diapers down on top of the dresser that stood in the room, he moved to sit in the rocking chair, hoping that he'd be able to get comfortable enough to rest while sitting.

Thankfully he was able to zone out for the most part, resting for the next three and a half hours before he decided to get back up to get ready. Glancing to the digital alarm clock on the bedside table as he walked back into their shared bedroom, he barely caught sight of the numbers going out, able to hear as the heater shut off as well. From what he had seen of the time it was only a little after four in the morning, not the best time to be plunged into darkness. Doing his best to feel his way around the room in the darkness, he held his breath as he slammed his foot into the dresser, setting the bundle of cloth on his arms down on the surface to clear both of his hands. He needed to find the bedside table, if only to grab his phone to use as a flashlight. He again took slow steps towards where he believed the bed to be, figuring that he'd use that to lead him up towards where he was going. He nearly tripped on the carpet and fell forward, but luckily caught himself on the bedframe and side table. Turning his phone on, he used the screen to illuminate the room, not wanting to turn the flashlight on for fear of accidentally waking Alma earlier than he needed to.

Or that's what he believed, before he felt the well known warning sign that his water was about to break. Using the dim light of his phone screen to illuminate his way to the bathroom door, he quickly shoved his pants off before moving to stand in the shower not a moment too soon, able to feel the warm fluids against his inner thighs. Standing in place for a few moments longer to make sure he wouldn't take the mess further from its origins, he grabbed an off-color washcloth to clean his legs as best as he could before stepping out of the shower and back out into the bedroom, forgoing his bottoms for now despite the ever-present chill in the house from the outside temperature. It wasn't like he could really feel it with what he could only guess was heat flashes. His pace was almost excruciatingly slow in his opinion as he walked back to the side of the bed with phone in hand. Resting his empty hand against Alma's shoulder for a moment before he did his best to shake it, he was glad that it didn't take much to wake him from slumber.

"Alma, my water broke, she's going to be coming really soon." He didn't mean to startle the other awake, but it wasn't too hard to do either. Moving to hold onto the wall for a moment, he watched his husband get discombobulated by the power being out before going into the bathroom to gather towels, the only thing he hadn't grabbed prior. Watching as a few of the towels were spread out in front of the dresser across the room from him, he finally turned on the flashlight on his phone to give his partner more light to work with. Being helped over to stand on the towels after another moment, he set his phone down on the dresser to let it illuminate the ceiling for now as he tried to relax, waiting for his body to be ready. He felt hands move to hold his hips from in front of him, himself moving to remove his shirt and toss it to the side before resting his forehead on Alma's shoulder.

The two of them were silent as they stood there, himself able to feel warm fingers tracing up and down his spine while they both waited for him to start. Pressing on the next contraction, he closed his eyes as he felt his fourth child move down, holding his breath to keep himself silent. Only later he'd realize that most of his issue was the discomfort, the pain not really affecting him due to the last time he did this. Pressing his fingertips into Alma's shoulders as he pushed, he felt the hands on his hips again, one moving to spread his legs a little more. He let out a strangled gasp as he felt the head come up to a crown, eyes shut tight in discomfort. It felt like hours that they stood there, his breath held as he pushed. It wasn't long in reality that he felt the head coming through, a silent breath leaving him in the same moment. It stung, but it wasn't like he hasn't dealt with worse feelings.

"You're doing amazing, it'll be over soon." Nodding against the shoulder, he went to move one of his hands to hold the head, instead feeling the hand on his hip grab at the limb instead. "I've got her, don't worry. You just need to focus on getting her out, alright?" Moving his hand back to grip the shoulder again, he let out a breath before pushing again, hissing softly under his breath at feeling the shoulders beginning to press out. Feeling a hand tracing against his inner thigh for a moment, he tried to relax more, stiffening up as he felt both shoulders slipping out at the same time, the now lightly sobbing girl practically falling from him within an instant and thankfully caught by Alma. Removing his hands from the older's shoulders, he rested back a little against the dresser as his eyes readjusted to the light from his phone, unable to keep from melting as he caught sight of the other holding their newborn daughter. Feeling the small girl being placed in his arms and against his chest, he watched as Alma took a screenshot of his phone's lock screen to grab the time before he felt himself being helped to the bathroom again. He was a little startled when he heard the alarm clock beep across the room, the power coming back as he was helped to sit in the tub. Closing his eyes again as the bathroom light was turned on, he momentarily flinched in shock at freezing water before it began heating up, holding the cord taut to allow Alma to cut it. He was left be for a while, whether it being five, ten, or fifteen he couldn't tell as he did his best to stay awake while he washed the now calm infant. He barely noticed when he was helped up from the tub, and stayed in a half asleep state while he and baby Nora were assisted with getting dressed into night clothes. He finally drifted off as he felt a kiss being pressed to his temple, succumbing to slumber readily.

xxx

Yu, 1:35 am: Lavi are you still awake?

Lavi, 1:37 am: yeah? can you not sleep or something? what are you doing awake?

Yu, 1:40 am: tell me why I found Suzu in the spice cabinet

Lavi, 1:42 am: [Image sent: screaming_bird.png]

Alma (You), 8:03 am: [Image sent: IMG_20XX1122_193035]

Alma (You), 8:05 am: Baby Nora was born at 5:12 this morning

Wish me luck handling the rest of the kids alone while Allen catches up on sleep

Nea, 8:10 am: wait what

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's actually Nora's Birthday today! [11/22] Happy Birthday sweetheart! Next post will be the first so have a nice rest of the month
> 
> There's a picture to go with the last bit and if I find a way to add it in on here I will


	21. Presents [Semi-Canon]

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Pre-disaster softness, was meant to be posted on Isobel and Arystar's birthday [12/1] but I completely forgot  
> So here it is, in a double post

"Isobel? What's got you running around at this time of day? I thought you were in the dining hall getting lunch." Stopping slowly from her sprint down the halls of the order, she made sure that she kept her hold on the package in her hands.

"Do you know where uncle Awystaw is?" Speaking up, she bounced on her feet carefully, her red hair bouncing around her shoulders as it was out of its ties for once.

"I believe he's near the lounge, I think he's with Miranda right now." Nodding, she turned to sprint in that direction, her dress just long enough to not catch her feet and trip her up. Stopping just short of the doorway to the lounge, she caught her breath for a moment and pulled some of her hair behind her ear before she took light steps into the room, her dress shoes making soft taps against the floor as she entered the room.

"Isobel! What do we owe the pleasure of having the birthday girl herself join us today?" Hearing the man she had been searching for address her, she moved to stop right in front of where he sat on the sofa, both hands still clutching the box in her grasp. Taking a deep breath, she didn't notice the other people in the doorway, even if her daddy wasn't being sneaky in the slightest.

"Happy Birthday uncle Awystaw!" Holding out the box toward the older man, she tried to give her best smile as she waited for him to take it. It took a few moments for him to do that, stunned silence having caught the room. She hopped up onto the sofa opposite of Miranda to wait for him to open the gift, the skirt of her dress puffing up under her. She finally heard more people enter the room to see what was happening, but she didn't pay them any mind as she waited for her uncle to open his present from her. She watched as the garment was lifted from the box, sitting patiently as she waited for a reaction to the black and crimson fabric that was now being held up.

Jumping a little in startled shock as she saw tears in the man's eyes, she felt bad, thinking that he didn't like the gift. "I sowwy, pease don't cry uncle Awys, pease don't be sad." She couldn't help how she teared up, obviously thinking that she had done something wrong. Feeling herself being pulled into a hug, she blinked a few times.

"I'm not upset miss Isobel, just surprised and happy. Thank you, though I don't know how you knew I used to wear a cloak like this." Blinking a few seconds, she beamed at how she was thanked, hugging back as best as she could before bouncing a little. Pushing back from the hug, she was careful as she tried to wipe up the tears with her little fingers, blinking as she was handed a handkerchief to use instead.

"Daddy helped me, he told me how you used to wear them before I was born." Grinning, she let herself be helped down from the couch, watching as her uncle stood up after her.

"Would you help me put it on please?" Gasping softly, she nodded enthusiastically, hearing a laugh from by the doorway.

"I've got you little 'Bel, just hold it for a moment." Giggling softly, she held the cloak she had grabbed from the packaging carefully, kicking her feet a little as she was picked up by her waist by her daddy. Letting the fabric unfold with gravity, she put it onto her uncle's shoulders, still holding onto the pieces of ribbon that needed to be tied. It took her a few tries to get a sturdy bow, but the moment she took her hands away and the cloak stayed in place she clapped her hands, being set back onto the floor.

From there she led Arystar to the dining hall, having given everyone enough time to set up for both of their birthdays. It was one of her favorite years.


	22. Happy Birthday Alma [Modern]

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> HAPPY BIRTHDAY ALMA  
> Was meant to be a little longer but it just took too long with no ideas from me  
> Timeframe is about 9 days before Ryuuji was born in modern au

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Mayo warning??? IDK I kin Alma but can't stand mayo

"Allen, no, you don't have to do that if you don't want to. Just let me-" Cutting his fiance off, he rolled his eyes at the other's persistence. 

"Who said I didn't want to?" Glancing around to face the other, he gave a light pout as he spoke, trying to get the taller to let him be and go back to their room. He wanted to be the first awake and have time to make the other breakfast for once, but that obviously didn't happen when he got up, having been nauseous and accidentally waking Alma up when he climbed out of bed.

"Allen-" Speaking up before he would let the older fuss over him anymore for the moment, he grabbed one of the spatulas from the drawer to his side. He really should've gotten everything he needed out before he started cooking.

"Alma, just sit back down and let me do this if you're not going back to bed." Hearing the other sigh softly at his stubbornness, he glanced back just before he was hugged from behind. Feeling himself being kissed on top of his head after a moment, he could hear as Alma moved to sit at the counter behind him. Pacing around as quietly as he could to continue to gather what he was trying to, he gradually glanced to the counter as he went, catching his fiance nearly falling back asleep on the marble surface.

Getting back to work on preparing breakfast, he tried to do so as quietly as he possibly could so he wouldn't accidentally wake the other. But it didn't matter in reality, especially when he dropped an egg on the floor and got absolutely no response.

Getting the small mess cleaned up gave him a little trouble, especially when he was trying to get back up off the floor, he managed it though. The actual cooking wasn't too difficult for him, especially since he was the only one who had been trusted in the kitchen other than Mana as a kid, he could still smell his uncle's attempt at boiling water six years later when he visited the older men. Being careful as he moved the used dishes to the side and started cleaning up, he set the food on the counter so he wouldn't accidentally clean it up. Putting the pans and tools into the sink to soak, he grabbed silverware from the drawer, using the handle of a fork to prod at Alma's upper arm, trying to wake the man back up before the food went cold. Hearing the coffee maker stop behind him as Alma sat up a little more, finally waking back up as he put the tool down beside the plate.

"Time to wake up, I finished making breakfast." Catching a smile cross the other's face as he moved back across the room to grab a cup, he briefly saw as Alma ruffled his own hair a little. Setting a full coffee cup in his partner's reach, he moved to rest his hip against the ledge of the counter, picking up his cup of juice from the counter.

"Allen you really…" Hearing as Alma spoke back up, he rolled his eyes at the incomplete statement, resting his free hand against his middle, feeling their nearly due son shift, waking back up.

"'Really didn't have to.' you've told me that already, and I've already told you that I wanted to." Setting his glass back down for a moment, he grabbed another piece of silverware from the drawer as he moved to the refrigerator, grabbing the awkward jar in both hands before using his leg and hip to close the door again. "Happy Birthday Alma." Laughing softly at the stunned expression, he caught blue eyes staring back at him in confusion. D-did Alma not remember what day it was? Waiting a few moments in silence, he was almost sure that the other was just doing his best to process what was happening.

"The original plan was for me to give you breakfast in bed, but that obviously didn't happen." Hearing a soft laugh as he finally got the other to catch back up, he shifted to stand on one foot. Watching as Alma picked up the fork to finally start eating, he decided to speak up before he sat down. "Are you going to want to put mayo on that?"

"And so what if I do?" He couldn't tell if he wanted to laugh at how predictable his fiance was or be disgusted at the idea of mayonnaise on french toast and eggs. Both, both is good.

"I'll think you're disgusting and probably leave the room for a moment but I'll give you the jar." Catching those blue eyes fill with worry for a moment, he shook his head as he slid his partner the jar and the knife. "We've been over this the whole term, my sense of smell is finicky. I'll just need to take a breather and I'll be back in a few minutes, alright?"

"Alright, but if you start feeling sick just tell me." Shaking his head a little at how worried Alma had just gotten over him, he couldn't help but laugh.

"I will, but it's not like anything would come up after what we both originally woke up to. At least the baby gave me a break for a little while. But enough about me, eat your breakfast before it gets cold and you have to reheat it and end up with warm mayo." Sitting down on the chair beside Alma once he figured he wouldn't get sick upon the condiment being opened, he tapped his half full glass against the counter a few times before sticking his tongue out in disgust.

"Warm mayo isn't that bad." Falsely gagging at the idea of the statement, he tried his best to focus on his beverage and the light kicks of their son to no avail.

"You are absolutely gross, but I love you so much." Feeling as a kiss was pressed to his cheek, he took a quick sip from his cup as he glanced away.

"I love you too, Allen."


	23. Happy Birthday Allen [Semi-Canon]

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Happy Birthday Allen sweetie!!
> 
> Takes place the year Iso and Ryuuji were born so you get some baby interactions  
> Also a minor, sweet conversation between Allen and a mirror :3
> 
> Happy Christmas!

Feeling his shoulder being shaken in the midst of his sleep, he groaned softly under his breath as he tried to roll back over. He didn't want to be awake, especially after having been up most of the night with his newborn son, the ten day old having been fussy to the point where he had to move to the lounge so they wouldn't wake anyone else up. He didn't quite remember going back to his and Alma's room though….

"Hey, moyashi, wake up." Huffing under his breath as he heard the dreaded nickname from just above him, he opened his eyes to slits, catching sight of the back of one of the lounge sofas. The room wasn't too bright, but that could've just been from how he was laying.

"I've told both of you not to call me that, Lavi. What do you even want." Moving to face the red-head that stood behind the piece of furniture, he tugged at the blanket that was draped over him for a moment in confusion. He didn't remember bringing a blanket with him and Ryuuji.

Wait a moment, where's Ryuuji?

Sitting up fully and glancing around both himself and the room, he could feel his heart speed up from his chest. He could almost feel the rush of panic cascade over him when he wasn't able to find the dark haired infant anywhere in his vicinity. Feeling a hand grab his shoulder as he moved to stand up almost too fast, he glanced back to find Lavi smiling at him.

"Calm down, Alma has Ryuuji. He found you two asleep in here early this morning and took the baby so you could sleep better. He's probably in one of the training rooms with Yu and Lenalee right now." Pausing in place at what he heard, he glanced back to the sofa where he could see the blanket. It  _ was _ from his and Alma's room.

"Why are you here Lavi?" As soon as the panic settled down the annoyance settled in. If Alma had taken their son so he could get some sleep, then why was he being woken up.

"Yu told me to check on you since I pissed him off again." Narrowing his eyes, he tried using his right hand to untangle his hair a little.

"So you decided to aggravate someone else, nice job." Hearing a laugh, he picked up the blanket after a moment, planning to head back to the room to hopefully either get more sleep or at least look more presentable. Ignoring the partial whining he got from the redhead as he left the room, he was almost glad that the halls were so empty. He realized why that was when he heard a clock going off in another part of the hall, only striking eight times.

If Kanda didn't castrate his boyfriend he was going to.

~~

"Allen! Good morning!" Waving a little as he paced closer to the group, he moved to tie his hair back before he felt the ribbon being tugged from his hand. Glancing to Lenalee for a moment in confusion as he was directed to sit on the steps of the training room, able to feel as two small babies were settled into his arms after a moment.

"What?" Feeling his head being kept still for a moment by the girl's hands, he decided not to try looking back at her until she finished what she was trying to do.

"I'm doing your hair, just hold Isobel and Ryuuji for a few minutes." Glancing down for a brief moment before he'd get his head tugged at again, he caught the little red headed girl staring at him. For only being about three weeks old Isobel was extremely calm, at least that he's seen. For all he knew he just never saw her when she was fussy. Feeling his hair being tugged on, he let Lenalee pull his head so he faced forward, able to watch as Alma and Kanda went back to their spar.

"There you go, I'll take Iso from you now." Shaking his head a little as he glanced down to the two infants sleeping in his hold, he shifted his right hand just barely enough to be able to reach the glove on his left wrist to tug it down more. Thankfully neither woke up as he did this, the most he saw from either being Ryuuji grabbing hold of one of the fingers on his right hand.

"No I've got her for right now, I don't think any of us want either of them to wake up accidentally while moving her." Closing his eyes briefly as he strained to smile, exhaustion still over him like the Noah memory of his long dead uncle. Catching looks from the other three, he tried to act normally to keep the trio from worrying over him. He found himself content just watching the two babies asleep in his arms, using the duo to distract himself from falling asleep sitting up. He vaguely saw as a golem flew up to Lenalee from the edge of his vision, but he couldn't hear what was said.

"Hey Allen, why don't you get cleaned up a little before we head to the dining hall for lunch?" Glancing over to the girl, he was pretty sure he knew how confused he probably looked. Lunch? The last time he looked or heard a clock it was still just after eight in the morning. Hearing a laugh, he pouted at Alma for a moment before he felt Kanda picking Isobel up from his hold.

"Shouldn't the two of you go wash up? You  _ were _ just sparring." Catching a light glare at his question, he felt a kiss being pressed to his temple for a moment before Ryuuji was taken up from his arms.

"We weren't doing too much, not enough to really work up a sweat, but I'll go wash up later if you really want me to. Unless you think we stink." Sticking his tongue out at the duo, he moved to stand up from the steps. Briefly catching Alma bouncing their son and the small baby squirming, he opened his mouth to comment more on that than what they had been talking about.

"You're going to stink if you don't stop bouncing Ryuu so much." Catching another laugh, he relaxed a little as the ten day old calmed down when the bouncing stopped. One less mess for the day hopefully. Glancing back around the room for another moment, he sighed softly. "Fine, do you want me to meet all of you in the dining hall?"

"We'll meet by the doors to the dining hall, I'm sure you can wait a few minutes for us to get there." Rolling his eyes at the teasing tone, he followed the group out of the training room, splitting up to take care of a few things before they'd meet back up. Heading to the restrooms to freshen up, he only barely glanced up to find Nea standing behind him in the mirror, no longer just looking like a dark shadow looming over him. Pausing for a few moments to see if there was anyone else in the room with him, he narrowed his eyes at the figure, the older just a tad shorter than him but not enough to make an actual difference. It wasn't like anyone else would notice.

"What do you want,  _ Nea _ ." Speaking up softly, he watched the dark haired reflection raise his arms in surrender.

" _ Nice way to greet your uncle, kid. Can't a guy just pop in to say hi? _ " Rolling his eyes in irritation at the words in his head, he sighed softly, closing his eyes for a brief moment.

"You just want to take over again, don't you. Well you can't." Hearing a laugh, he pressed his mouth into a thin line. He was too tired to argue about this with Nea.

" _ Yeah, yeah, you don't want me accidentally hurting your baby. Nice job assuming I wanted to take over though, wrong but nice job. _ " Growing confused by the words, he raised an eyebrow at the figure in the mirror.

"That isn't what you're talking to me about? Why else would  _ you _ start a conversation with me?" Taking another glance around the room, he relaxed a little more where he stood, rolling the sleeves of his button up back down to his wrists.

" _ Can't I just want to tell my nephew happy birthday and say his kid is adorable? _ " Freezing for a moment, he blinked at the words, catching a shocked reaction from Nea in the mirror. " _ Did you really forget your birthday, Allen? _ "

"Maybe. And thanks I guess, for both the wishes and reminding me that was today." He almost couldn't believe that he forgot that was today, almost only because he's had such difficulty with processing time ever since Ryuuji was born.

" _ No problem, kid, at least your birthday isn't too hard to remember. _ " Raising an eyebrow at that comment, he almost wanted to ask for an explanation. " _ But that doesn't matter right now. Don't you have lunch to get anyway? _ " Feeling his face flush a little at the teasing tone sent at him, he turned away from the mirror, leaving the restroom to head for where everyone was supposed to be waiting for him.

"There you are, we were worried that you had gotten lost on the way back. Somebody missed you." Accepting his lightly fussing son back into his arms, he smiled as the infant calmed down a little bit. Glancing back up to the other four, he raised an eyebrow with a smile.

"So when were you going to remind me that it's the twenty-fifth?"

"So you  _ didn't _ remember. Why don't we head into the dining hall for this conversation." Sending a look to Alma for a moment, he shifted the bundle in his arms for a moment before he pushed open one of the doors, freezing a little in shock as he caught sight of what had to be almost everyone at the headquarters standing, having most likely been waiting for him.

So that's why he hadn't been reminded before now.

"Happy Birthday Allen, and Happy Christmas." Hearing cheers from the rest of the room, he tried for a moment to hide his face with his son's blanket before smiling to the room, his cheeks warm at being made the center of attention.

"Thank you, and Happy Christmas to you all as well."


End file.
